Preventable diseases such as malaria, polio and tuberculosis kill millions of people each year. 

Good health is a fundamental human right and has been recognised in three of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):
MDG 4: Reduce child mortality
MDG 5: Improve maternal health
MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Health will improve with the achievement of other MDGs. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (MDG 1) will help families become healthier and not have to spend so much money on preventative healthcare. Achieve universal primary education (MDG 2) will help children understand the importance of improved hygiene and nutritional practices. Promote gender equality and empower women (MDG 3) will improve the health of families as women tend to have more say in family decision-making. Ensure environmental sustainability, including sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation (MDG 7), combined with good hygiene behaviours, also contributes to improved public health.

Use these links to explore some aspects of improving health:

Global campaign to wipe out polio could falter with the finish line in sight
Fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
Hans Rosling on GAVI's targeted fight against poverty and disease

However, many countries are not on track to meet the health Millennium Development Goals and the poorest and most vulnerable people continue to bear the greatest burden of ill health. How sick is that?

Going further
AusAID – Health
AusAID – Emergency Phone Project saving lives 
Global Education – Health 
 

1.6 billion people live in countries with absolute water scarcity (less than 500 cubic metres per person, per year).

This is the International Year of Water Cooperation. It aims to raise awareness about the importance of cooperation to improve access to water. During the last 60 years there have been more than 200 international water agreements and only 37 cases of reported violence between states over water. Cooperative approaches to water management lead to improved economic, health, justice and environmental outcomes, as well as promoting understanding and peace.

The year will also focus on the challenges facing water management as demands increase. Scarcity, over-abstraction, diversion, pollution and neglect of treaties can all lead to tension about water use. 

Here are some suggestions of things you can do:

• learn about water and sanitation issues and people cooperating to address them
• install a water tank at school or at home
• participate in campaigns and events to raise money for access to clean and affordable water
• investigate water use and cooperation in your region through excursions to local rivers, lakes and reservoirs
• lower your water footprint by consuming less high-water use food and fibres
• take the 50-litre challenge – a pledge to live on 50 litres of water each day for a week.

Useful websites
International Year of Water Cooperation www.watercooperation2013.org/
United Nations www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/water_cooperation.shtml 
Global Education www.globaleducation.edu.au/global-issues/gi-water-and-sanitation.html

National Reconciliation Week, 27 May to 3 June, promotes conversations to build understandings between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. We celebrate the rich and diverse cultures of Australia’s First Peoples. We deepen understandings and work together to achieve equality in life expectancy, education, employment and other indicators of disadvantage. 

Set the scene the week before, on 21 May, with the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, which challenges us to deepen our intercultural understandings and the importance of inclusion and building relationships to learn to live together better.

The Australian Curriculum, cross-curriculum priority, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, and the general capability, Intercultural understanding can be developed by a focus on these events.

Global education’s five learning emphases: interdependence and globalisation, identity and cultural diversity, social justice and human rights, peace building and conflict resolution, and sustainable futures are all strongly evident in the three organising ideas of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority: Country/Place, Culture, and People. From early numeracy investigations to the history of human rights, from engaging with traditional stories to understanding the science of place, there are many options for including both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures and a global education perspective.

Going further
Australian Curriculum, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
Australian Curriculum, Intercultural understanding
Do One Thing For Diversity and Inclusion Facebook page 
Plural + 2012 Youth Video Festival Award winners
Australian Human Rights Commission, Racism and diversity: not just black and white (podcast)
Global education teaching strategy, diversity