Unit 4 – Area of Study 2: Health and the Sustainable Development Goals
Outcome 2:
Analyse relationships between the SDGs and their role in the promotion of health and human development, and evaluate the effectiveness of global aid programs.
Examples of learning activities
- access the most recent United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report; discuss as a class the potential gains for health and wellbeing in setting goals and achieving the targets of the SDGs; identify factors that may hinder achievement of the goals
- use a range of case studies that represent examples of the work undertaken by the United Nations in helping to achieve the SDGs; in pairs or small groups, summarise how these examples contribute to global health and wellbeing
- research the role of the United Nations in achieving global health and wellbeing
- using Viz Hub (University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation), analyse differences in the progression of countries towards the SDGs’ indicators
- access the United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform and create a detailed list of key health issues covered in SDG 3; use the list to classify:
- key issues that are of most concern in low-income countries
- key issues relevant to high-income countries
- issues that are common across all countries.
- access the United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform and consider the targets of SDG 3; in groups, discuss targets that are relevant to Australia’s health and wellbeing; research and list health programs that are operating in Australia that may relate to the targets; consider if these programs could work in low- or middle-income countries
- view the video ‘Sustainable Development Goals: Leaving no one behind' examples from Papua New Guinea ‘(United Nations 2017, 7.15 mins); from this case study, create a mind map or visual diagram of how the goals interrelate
- in groups, rank the SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 13 from ‘most important to achieve’ to ‘least important’; justify the rank to the class
- in small groups, create a Symbaloo that contains information as well as links to further information, case studies and videos related to an SDG
- in groups, create a Padlet wall relating to a specific SDG; investigate why the goal is important, its impact on the achievement of SDG 3 and links to specific programs or countries that are working towards the goal
- use a lotus diagram or other graphic organiser to demonstrate the relationship between SDG 3 and SDGs 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 13
- access Global Health Observatory data that summarises SDG health-related targets; in small groups, investigate a specific health target and report on region-by-region progress and the potential to reach the specific target by 2030
- consider the most recent version of the World Food Programme’s Hunger Map (2015); identify countries with a high or very high rate of undernourishment; choose one of these countries and investigate how the WFP is working collaboratively to achieve SDG 2 Zero Hunger
- investigate the WHO priorities
- design a poster or a Facebook or Instagram page for the World Health Organisation; consider the following:
- what the profile picture of the WHO would be
- an ‘About’ profile
- 6–8 posts that include pictures and written statements to inform about work undertaken by WHO.
- in pairs, visit the WHO website to investigate its key focus areas, select one of these and explain how the focus area helps meet the WHO objective of ‘the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health’
- find and document case studies to identify types of aid (emergency, bilateral, multilateral)
- create a PMI (plus, minus, interesting) chart for each of the types of aid (emergency, bilateral, multilateral and non-government)
- view the World Vision Australia video ‘What are the different types of aid?’ (2015, 4.12 mins).
- Australia gives multilateral aid to the United Nations, in groups, visit the United Nations to investigate a key issue that the UN has a focus on; report back to class how supporting and working towards this key issue could improve overall health and wellbeing of individuals and communities
- in 2016–2017 Australia spent $3,827.8 million on Official Development Assistance (ODA) (DFAT 2016-17 Australian Aid Budget Summary); divide the class into groups and set the following scenario: allocate the budget money to each of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) priority areas; break the budget down into a percentage allocation for each priority; to which priority area did your group allocate the most? Why? To which priority area did your group allocate the least? Why?
- consider the following DFAT map, which indicates countries to which Australia gives aid; create a list of countries that are included on the map; choose four countries to investigate further; What type of programs/services is the Australian aid helping to provide these countries?; identify the type of aid used (bilateral, emergency or multilateral)
- consider the priority areas of the Australian Government’s aid program; map these areas against the SDGs; consider any similarities and differences
- access Care Australia to analyse the features of one of its programs that addresses a key SDG: how would this program enhance health and wellbeing of its participants?
- using a case study representing a health issue in a low-income country, identify how a non-government organisation might respond in a way that promotes health and human development; share ideas in a collaborative document
- use key health indicators (life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality) from a low-income country to justify a program that would be appropriate to implement; describe who would implement the program and how it would promote health and human development
- access the Gender Inequality Index to identify countries that are ranked poorly for gender inequality; design a program that could be implemented by a non-government organisation in that country to help combat issues of gender inequality
- give students the following scenario: you are the CEO of a newly formed non-government organisation (NGO); write a media release identifying your organisation, its mission and a particular program that it would like to promote; detail how the program could benefit the health and wellbeing of people in the communities in which you are working
- use the video ‘Water, a case study on Flores’ (2013, 6.18 mins) to explain the role of World Vision Australia in promoting health and wellbeing and human development in Indonesia
- find and document two case studies, one that represents a program that was not sustainable and another that has been sustainable; in pairs, students use a Venn diagram to compare how each program was implemented; students use their diagram to generate a list of key characteristics that should be considered when implementing a program to ensure its sustainability
- in small groups, students research a program that focuses on one or more of the SDGs; find out about:
- the purpose of the program and the SDG addressed
- the implementation of the program and partnerships involved
- its contribution to promoting health and wellbeing, and human development.
present the information in a visual format to the class and/or complete a collaborative jigsaw activity to ensure all areas are covered - research an example of a program implemented by a government or non-government organisation; draw up a table, in the left-hand column list the key characteristics necessary to ensure sustainability, tick those characteristics evident in the case study and provide a brief overview of how they are evident
- access the United Nations’ ‘Lazy person’s guide to saving the world’; document a list of actions that can be taken with the following instruction: highlight ones you already do, circle ones that you believe would be easy to start implementing straight away and underline ones that might be more difficult to implement
- access the Small Smurfs; students take the quiz and/or consider the goals they believe are important and consider ways to take action; report results back to class and collate in a collaborative manner
- view the World’s Largest Lesson; as a class, set the following group task: consider something that the group could possibly invent (internet research may be required) or implement within the school or local community; consider which SDG goal this may be associated with and how this invention/program could promote health and wellbeing
- students explore the SDGs in Action app (from the Apple Store or Google Play) to learn more about the SDGs and find actions and events that support the goals; investigate how the app allows people to create and plan actions in their area and invite other people to join
Detailed example
Digital presentation: relationships between SDG 3 and the other health-related goals.
Using Viz Hub (University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation) students analyse differences in the progression of countries towards the SDG indicators. They then access the United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform to understand the key health issues covered in SDG 3.
Students use websites to research one of the health related Sustainable Development Goals (1, 2, 4, 5, 6 or 13) and analyse its relationship to SDG 3. Students use the information to produce a digital presentation that includes:
- a description of the chosen Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
- objectives of the chosen SDG
- why the goal is important
- the relationship to, and impact of, this goal on SDG 3
- examples of collaboration between the health sector and other sectors in working towards the two goals.
Ideas for using ICT
Apps: Keynote, Strip Designer
Software: Inspiration, Comic Life, PowerPoint Web 2.0, Prezi, Glogster, Padlet,
Symbaloo, Animoto