Issues & Topics

Our background primers on the big issues.

Hunger

The loss of human life [due to hunger] is as great as if an atomic bomb – similar to the one that destroyed Hiroshima during

Millennium Development Goals

In 2000 the UN Millennium Declaration was adopted at the largest ever meeting of heads of state and committed those countries – rich and poor

Sustainable Development

What is Sustainable Development? …there can be no doubt that consumer cultures are behind what Gus Speth has called the “Great Collision” between a finite

The Earthquake in Haiti

On the 12th of January 2010 the Caribbean island of Haiti experienced its worst earthquake in more than two centuries. The quake is said to have reached point 7 on the Richter scale

Debating Aid

This feature explores development aid and the various debates around it, from the philosophical basis behind aid to the history of development aid and some of the major defences and criticisms of aid.

Water & Sanitation

Between 70 and 75 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water – primarily salt water. Only 2.53 percent of the world’s water is useable freshwater which can be found in groundwater aquifers, rivers and freshwater lakes

A Focus on Aboriginal Australia

‘Aboriginal People in Australia have been the subject of dispossession, denied identity, removed from control of our own doctrines and responsibilities to our culture and

Genocide

Never again – this is what the world said after the Holocaust of the Second World War. Then there was Bosnia and, in between, Rwanda. The genocide in Rwanda in 1994 resulted in the merciless slaughter of more than 800,000

Human Rights

This learning guide was designed to support individuals, schools and local community groups in exploring the meaning and implications of a Human Rights perspective on issues and focuses on encouraging discussion

The Asian Tsunami Debated

Worldwide, there has been a massive positive reaction to this disaster where huge sums of money have been raised to assist countries and communities rebuild their lives. This has largely happened