SDG 1 - Political campaign for the fight against poverty

Homeless man on the street. (By Nick Fewings on unsplash.com)

As of 2015, about 736 million people still lived on less than US$1.90 a day; many lack food, clean drinking water and sanitation. Rapid growth in countries such as China and India has lifted millions out of poverty, but progress has been uneven. Women are more likely to be poor than men because they have less paid work, education, and own less property.

The way in which definitions of poverty are calculated varies considerably between countries. In the United States, for example, the number is meant to reflect the same income (adjusted for inflation) over time. As the median income suffered, it also suffered the income below which people are defined as poor. In these countries, halving the proportion of people living in poverty can only be achieved through a drastic reduction in inequality.

The purpose of the activity is also to make the students understand that poverty is a dynamic concept that can affect any person at any time of his or her life and that the theme of poverty is something not too far away from us.

The activity here proposed is about creating different group works with the students with the purpose to find out possible solutions to deal with the problem of local poverty through a simulation of political debate where the students have to to assert and defend their ideas to tackle the issue of local poverty.

Eradicating poverty, in fact, is not a task of charity but it's an act of justice and the key to unlocking an enormous human potential and the action of every of us can help in this change.

Action Areas

Learning Objectives

Cognitive learning objectives:

The learner understands the concepts of extreme and relative poverty and is able to critically reflect on their underlying cultural and normative assumptions and practices.
The learner knows about causes and impacts of poverty such as unequal distribution of resources and power, colonization, conflicts, disasters caused by natural hazards and other climate change-induced impacts, environmental degradation and technological disasters, and the lack of social protection systems and measures.
The learner knows about poverty reduction strategies and measures and is able to distinguish between deficit-based and strength-based approaches to addressing poverty.

Socio-emotional learning objectives:

The learner is able to raise awareness about extremes of poverty and wealth and encourage dialogue about solutions.
The learner is able to show sensitivity to the issues of poverty as well as empathy and solidarity with poor people and those in vulnerable situations.

Behavioural learning objectives:

The learner is able to propose solutions to address systemic problems related to poverty.

Competences

Normative competency
Strategic competency
Critical thinking competency
Self-awareness competency
Integrated problem-solving competency

Instructions

Step 1) What did I see on my way today? (30 minutes)

Teachers will introduce to the students the first Sustainable Development Goal by watching the short video in the Resources section and then the teacher asks the students to reflect on the concept of poverty by focusing on observing what they see in their daily lives, even when they return home from school.

One option is to take pictures of this situation and then during the lesson show the picture and the teacher can stimulate the students with questions such as:

Have you met or seen poor people?
What makes you think those people are poor?
Were those people doing something that made them classified as poor?
What kind of houses do you think these people live in?
What do you think they work on?

At the end of the debate the students and teachers will find out what is the example of a case of poverty most seen by the students during their journey.

Step 2) Creation of a political campaign (90 minutes)

The teachers will divide the students into 4 groups that will have the objective of carrying out an investigation on the most common case of poverty within their local reality with the purpose of looking for possible solutions to face the problem.

It is recommended that the teacher give the task to the students to review the main local newspapers and select stories or cases of poverty. This task can be done a month before the activity. It is important that the selected cases are from situations close to the students to avoid translating the concept that poverty is a phenomenon that does not directly affect them.

Once the various cases of poverty have been collected, the case that most interests students is chosen. In groups they read the article with attention and evidence:

The causes of that situation
Is it extreme poverty? Or what kind of poverty speaks?
Which basic human right is being breached with this situation of poverty?
What consequences could this situation have if it is not solved?
What solutions can we offer to put an end to this situation?

Afterwards, the students will establish a debate through two spokespersons in which the groups will have to debate with the aim of proposing their ideas on how to face the phenomenon of poverty. It is important that students justify their ideas with local data, also to give more force to the argument it is important to frame it in an international answer if possible (solutions that have been applied in other countries and their effects can be proposed).

Step 3) The tree of change (30 minutes)

At the end of the debate the teacher will open a reflection on the concept of poverty as a dynamic concept that can affect any person at any time of his or her life.

A tree is drawn on the blackboard or on a large sheet of paper, in which, through collective reflection, the causes of poverty are identified at the roots of the tree (lack of education, economic conditions, political situations, gender inequality. ..)

The trunk identifies the channels with which these situations can be improved, for example by changing social and economic policies, with our voluntary actions, buying sustainable products ... And in the branches the effects on society will be written if they reduce the phenomenon of poverty.

- CALL TO ACTION 1

Against the many types of poverty the territory is mobilized in projects to facilitate the relocation in the world of work, to be able to ensure a meal a day, to improve access to health services, to offer a roof to those who sleep on the street.

In this call to action students will be able to go to structures/ associations of social and humanitarian volunteers working with people in poverty and try to analyze the various point of views on the problem of poverty through interviews with social assistants, psychologists, educators, volunteers and users of the service who interface with the problem of poverty on a daily basis. The goal is to analyze the problem from the point of view of those who live in poverty and from the point of view of those who seek solutions to address the problem. After collecting all the interviews the students can choose to share the results of their research through the creation of a documentary, an installation of a photographic exhibition or writing an online article on their school web page with the aim of raising the awareness of students and teachers about the theme of poverty in general but above all on the theme of local poverty.

- CALL TO ACTION 2

Based on the results obtained from the activity described above, students will be able to set up a day with the aim of disseminating and explaining the solution found in point 2, to combat the phenomenon of local poverty.

Students will be able to set up stands in their own school complex or in the universities of their city to expose the ideas found with the aim of collecting a series of signatures that support their project.

After collecting the signatures, the students go to their municipality in order to present their ideas to the highest authorities to implement the change at the local level. It can be by sending a letter, an email, or requesting a meeting with the councilor.

Requirements

Resources

Click each section below to see all resources available.

Videos

ODS 1 | Fin de la pobreza

Notes for Educators

Estimated Total Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes + Call to Action

Energize the debate. Students can support their ideas with the creation of posters, videos, images etc… . You can give a time limit for the presentation of each solution and project a countdown on the virtual whiteboard.

The debate can be structured in different ways.

Each group presents its solution, a few minutes of questions are left at the end of each presentation and at the end the vote can be anonymous, or by raising the hand.
American style debate. Two groups are challenged by two groups, while the others vote. The two groups that have won in a first turn will be debated again in a final turn.

The debate can be evaluated by the teaching staff, within an assignment. Points can be awarded to those who formulate well-structured questions, to those who have solid arguments for their solution.
This activity can also be done online, in the case of distance learning.