Millennium Kids News

We are thrilled to be heading to Regina in a couple weeks to teach one week of interactive SDG workshops in grades 4-8 classrooms. So far we are booked to teach seven workshops at Balgonie Elementary School, École Massey, Wilfrid Walker School and Mother Theresa Middle School. Oct 4 is still available! CONTACT US TODAY at [email protected] to book your Regina-area workshop!

At each Millennium Kids’ SDG workshop students learn about the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (end poverty, end hunger, health, education, gender equality, water and sanitation, clean energy, decent work, technology, reduce inequalities, sustainable cities, responsible consumption, climate change, oceans, land, peace and global partnership) and create a 20 cm collage box for one of the SDGs to remind our government that Canadians want to keep our SDG promise and it will take all of Canada to do so by the 2030 deadline!

Our 90-minute interactive workshop covers the United Nations, government, Canada and the global community, advocacy and civic engagement. MK has taught this SDG collage box workshop to 100+ classes in grades 3-12.

The workshop addresses the following questions: what is global poverty?, what are the SDGs?, what is Canada doing on the SDGs?, what can Canada do better on the SDGs?, and how can I use my voice for the SDGs?

In spring 2020, Millennium Kids plans to hand-deliver 17 SDG collage boxes to Parliament in Ottawa to thank our MPs for their SDG efforts and remind them that greater efforts and collaboration are urgently needed to fulfill Canada’s commitment and reach the SDGs by 2030.

On Tuesday, May 14, 2019, 30-40 Millennium Kids (grades 4-12) will travel to Parliament in Ottawa to deliver 17 SDG boxes (22 cm square) that have been hand-collaged at recent school SDG workshops (in Ontario and Alberta—Calgary, Airdrie and Stony Nakoda Elementary School) to thank Parliament for their collective SDG efforts nationally and internationally, and to also remind every MP that acceleration is necessary (including increased ODA) if we are to keep our SDG promise by 2030. Students want to be active participants in the SDGs! 

We are in conversation with minister and MP’s offices about availability and timing for meetings. We have meetings booked with MP Guy Caron (NDP) and MP Julie Dzerowicz (Liberal).

What a full spring it is! In April alone, we taught 21 SDG workshops to 500+ Ontario students in grades 2-8. More to come in May...still a few days available.

✅ MKs at local MP’s Climate Change Town Hall to learn what climate measures Canada is rolling out; however, we are NOT on track to meet our Paris Accord targets

✅ MKs at local MP’s 2019 Budget Breakfast to learn there is a modest increase of $100 million in international development spending scheduled for each year until 2023-24 (however this will NOT increase our aid spending ($5.7 billion) as a percentage of Canada’s gross national income which continues to increase—currently 0.27% GNI instead of the promised 0.7% GNI)

✅ MKs at a coffee meeting with their local MP asked whether Canada is working on Supply Chain Legislation to ensure no child labour is involved in the creation of products sold in Canada (such as exists in UK, California, Netherlands, France, Australia)

At each Millennium Kids’ SDG workshop students learn about the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (end poverty, end hunger, health, education, gender equality, water and sanitation, clean energy, decent work, technology, reduce inequalities, sustainable cities, responsible consumption, climate change, oceans, land, peace and global partnership) and create a 20 cm collage box for one of the SDGs to remind our government that Canadians want to keep our SDG promise and it will take all of Canada to do so by the 2030 deadline!

Our 90-minute interactive workshop covers the United Nations, government, Canada and the global community, advocacy and civic engagement. MK has taught this SDG collage box workshop to 50 classes in grades 3-12.

The workshop addresses the following questions: what is global poverty?, what are the SDGs?, what is Canada doing on the SDGs?, what can Canada do better on the SDGs?, and how can I use my voice for the SDGs?

Millennium Kid Cian (13) from Ontario and MK director travelled to New York City to participate in the UN ECOSOC 2019 Youth Forum on SDG progress and acceleration with 1000+ youth from around the globe. The theme was “Youth: Empowered, Included and Equal”.

Memorable comments and reflections from youth and ministers of youth at the forum:

”We need young people to step up and push world leaders to do what’s right!” UN Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres

-Paris Agreement is a starting point for holding governments accountable (UNDP dir)

-those who were already vulnerable feel the worst effects of climate change (Haiti youth)

-ban disposable plastics by 2020?

-should our yardstick be CO2 production or rather our own consumption patterns?

-significant investments in youth from several countries: mentorship, education, digital skills training, start-up incubators, youth businesses

-globally only 6% of parliamentarians are under the age of 35

-major things needed to fulfill SDGs: budget and legislation

We had a fantastic week in ALBERTA teaching SDG workshops to enthusiastic students at École Airdrie Middle School (an UNESCO designated school in Rocky View District), Varsity Acres School (Calgary Board of Education), Nakoda Elementary School on Stoney Nakoda reserve in Morley and a lunch ’n learn for staff at TELUS Spark Science Centre, Calgary. Students were thrilled their SDG collage boxes were Parliament-bound to encourage greater SDG efforts in the coming months! Seven workshops in all to 160 students and young adults over four days. Many thanks to UNESCO school EAMS who shared what Millennium Kids is doing at the Alberta-wide annual meeting of UNESCO schools in Edmonton with a great response. Thank you also to the Alberta SDG Network working to make Alberta Canada’s leading province in sustainability for spreading the word!

At each Millennium Kids’ SDG workshop students learn about the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (end poverty, end hunger, health, education, gender equality, water and sanitation, clean energy, decent work, technology, reduce inequalities, sustainable cities, responsible consumption, climate change, oceans, land, peace and global partnership) and create a 20 cm collage box for one of the SDGs to remind our government that Canadians want to keep our SDG promise and it will take all of Canada to do so by the 2030 deadline!

Our 90-minute interactive workshop covers the United Nations, government, Canada and the global community, advocacy and civic engagement. MK has taught this SDG collage box workshop to 50 classes in grades 3-12.

The workshop addresses the following questions: what is global poverty?, what are the SDGs?, what is Canada doing on the SDGs?, what can Canada do better on the SDGs?, and how can I use my voice for the SDGs?

In spring 2019, Millennium Kids plans to hand-deliver 17 SDG collage boxes to Parliament in Ottawa to thank our MPs for their SDG efforts and remind them that greater efforts and collaboration are urgently needed to fulfill Canada’s commitment and reach the SDGs by 2030.

Three passionate young Millennium Kids (10-yr-old Tyson, 12-yr-old Sam and 12-yr-old Eden) prepared 60-second remarks for the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance’s pre-budget consultation open-mic in Toronto October 5, 2018 to request more spending on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to get on track to reach the promised 0.7% GNI for international development, with an emphasis on education and food security!

Thank you Honourable Mr. Wayne Easter, chair of the committee, for welcoming the Millennium Kids and put them at ease. 

Millennium Kids expressed their gratitude for the $5 billion+ Canada spends on international development! But we must do more.

10-yr-old Tyson from Tiger Jeet Singh Public School in Milton explained to the committee: “I’m asking that you work toward giving 0.7% of Canada’s yearly income towards the Sustainable Development Goals.” (video)

12-yr-old Sam from Homelands Senior Public School in Mississauga added that  “I’m concerned Canada has decreased its foreign aid to 0.26% Gross National Income...with more than 20 million people facing starvation in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria.” (video)

12-yr-old Eden from King Edward Public School in Toronto observed there there is no change to stats on global education since her submission last year: “there are STILL 260 million kids who don’t get to attend school.” Drawing on her current grade 7 math topic of percentages, she pointed out to the committee, “as Canada’s income goes up, our aid is going down as a percentage if you don’t increase it a lot!” (video)  

Twenty-three Millennium Kids from Niagara, Mississauga, Milton and Toronto (gr 4-12) spent an amazing day at Queen’s Park April 25, 2018 delivering 17 UN Sustainable Development Goal collage boxes handmade by students to ministers, an interim party leader and MPPs to celebrate the progress made on the SDGs and inspire the even greater collaborative efforts needed to fulfill all 17 SDGs by 2030!

To begin our day, the Minister of the Status of Women Harinder Malhi answered Millennium Kids’ questions on gender equality (SDG5). Eleven-year-old Betty, anticipating her future career, asked Minister Malhi what is Ontario doing to end the gender wage gap. The minister kindly explained Ontario’s new Pay Transparency Act requiring large companies to track and publish information about the wages of its employees. Following Question Period, MKs met with MPP Cristina Martins from Davenport. Some of her own young constituents among the Millennium Kids were eager to give her three SDG collage boxes. Nine-year-old Levi asked MPP Martins if Ontario can stop cocoa beans harvested by children in Africa from entering Ontario. Minister of Education Indira Naidoo-Harris stopped by to chat with Millennium Kids also.

MPP Sam Oosterhoff (Niagara West-Glanbrook) invited the Millennium Kids to meet with him in the PC Caucus Room around the huge boardroom table, especially fun for the five young constituents of his among the Millennium Kids. Students were very interested to learn about what it is like to be a 20-yr-old MPP…a day in the life of…the advantages and disadvantages of being young in the legislature. (We overheard Millennium Kids afterward calculating whether they would be old enough to run in the 2022 or 2026 provincial elections!)  We also had the pleasure of meeting with the interim PC leader MPP Vic Fedeli who joined us in the Caucus Room. Mr. Fedeli answered a question about clean energy with reference to his party’s focus on water/hydro energy.

Millennium Kids met with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Chris Ballard. Ten-year-old Roberta asked about how to reduce Ontario’s use of plastics and plastic pollution in our oceans. A lively discussion followed about straws, incentives and using less generally. Minister Ballard explained his party’s preference for the producer paying for the cost of disposal/recycling of materials.

Our final meeting was with Minister of Housing and Poverty Reduction Strategy Peter Milzcyn. One young student asked: what can a kid do to help end poverty? A great discussion followed about good and bad debt and how to continue to fight poverty when Ontario has $300-400 billion in debt.

At Millennium Kids workshops students are learning about the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and creating a collage box for each of the SDGs to let Ontario government leaders and MPPs know that Canadians want to keep our SDG promise and it will take collaboration from every level of government to do so by the 2030 deadline!

Millennium Kids are planning to hand-deliver a set of 17 SDG boxes to the Ontario Legislature (Queen’s Park) in April 2018. The next set will be for Toronto City Hall (Fall 2018). If you would like to host an MK SDG workshop in the greater Toronto area and create your own SDG collage box in your classroom, please contact [email protected].

More details to follow about joining us for the delivery of the SDG boxes.

The 60-90 minute workshop covers the Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations, government, Canada and the global community, and civic engagement. (Suitable for JK-grade 12; e.g. gr 5/6 government unit, gr 7/8 geography, gr 10 civics class.)

If you live outside the greater Toronto area, cardboard shoeboxes work well for the SDG collage box. You can invite your local member of provincial parliament to your classroom to give her/him the SDG box or drop it off at your MPP’s constituency office. Be sure to explain that the box represents your hope that Canada along with every province will fulfill our SDG promise by 2030.

Two passionate young Millennium Kids (11 yo Eden and 12 yo Cian) appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance at its pre-budget hearing October 20, 2017 to request more spending on the Sustainable Development Goals (i.e. the promised 0.7% of Canada’s gross national income) and in particular, education and food security. In its official December 2017 report (see Recommendation 85 below) the Finance Committee recommended Canada allocate 0.7% GNI to international development by 2030 with 3-yr rolling targets!!

One of the MKs asked the committee members whether they had ate breakfast that morning before addressing Canada’s need to improve global food security and end hunger. The second MK compared her 60-minutes/wk French reading assignment to global aid spending for the committee; if I want to reach 60 minutes in a week, I need to plan for 10 minutes of reading on Monday, Thursday and Friday, and 15 minutes on Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 yo Eden suggested. “What is our plan to get to the 0.7% [gross national income aid target] we promised? (video)

Millennium Kid teens Grace (17) and Ephraim (15) from Ontario and MK director travelled to New York City to participate in the UN ECOSOC 2018 Youth Forum with hundreds of youth from around the globe. The theme was “The role of youth in building sustainable and resilient urban and rural communities”.

MKs Grace and Ephraim met with Canadian UN Ambassador Louise Blais and discussed the gender equality policy needed for NGOs to receive funding from Canada’s ODA budget, and the exciting work to be done preparing Canada’s Voluntary National Review [VNR] reporting on our SDG progress in July 2018, NYC. 

With a view to sustainable development, participants considered the impact of: lowering voting age (Austria), National Youth Policy (Cote d’Ivoire), what it means to “co-manage” nation’s resources with youth (Portugal) and “trust the immense disruptive power of young people” (Paraguay’s Minister of Youth), how to create sustainable development with (not just for) youth (Denmark), designated plastic-free grocery aisles (UK), how to encourage businesses to adopt a triple bottomline (financial/social/environmental), decreased fertility rates and family policy (Hungary), and how to incentivize responsible consumption and production for consumers and producers.   

The Millennium Kids’ delegation met youth representatives from Belgium and the Netherlands who actively engaged youth in their 2017 Voluntary National Review processes to gather ideas for youth participation in Canada’s upcoming 2018 VNR.  

An AMAZING day on Parliament Hill June 5th with 32 Millennium Kids from 12 different schools in Niagara, Hamilton, Mississauga and Toronto hand-delivering 17 Canada 150 Sustainable Development Goal birthday gift boxes to the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development, MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes, to remind our leaders that Canadians want to fulfill the SDGs and reach the promised 0.7% gross national income funding for official development assistance as our 150th birthday gift to the world!

As Millennium Kids set out from Toronto, CITYTV Breakfast Television came to film and interview the students for the morning show.

Millennium Kids really pressed PS Caesar-Chavannes wanting to know how and when we would reach our 0.7% aid promise in order to meet the SDGs by 2030. 10-year-old Samantha posed a memorable question: why do we sign agreements if we are not going to keep them (like 0.7% aid)?

MP Julie Dzerowicz described her work on gender equality and encouraged MKs to help make girls’ education a priority at the 2018 G7 meeting Canada will host. She suggested students copy her on their emails to the prime minister so she can raise their issues at caucus meetings.

Both vice-chairs of the Foreign Affairs and International Development Committee also kindly took time to meet with Millennium Kids June 5th: MP Hélène Laverdière encouraged MKs to keep using their voices for the SDGs/0.7% aid and never give up! MP Dean Allison (also vice-chair) described the work of the committee and the strength of doing international development work in collaboration with other countries. Along the same theme he encouraged MKs to continue their efforts and consider how to join voices with other organizations too for greater impact.  

While we were watching Question Period from the visitor’s gallery overhead, MP Dzerowicz bent down beside PM Justin Trudeau to point out the Millennium Kids to him. PM Trudeau looked up, smiled and gave an enthusiastic wave to the Millennium Kids who returned the wave with great excitement!

After QP we met with MP Adam Vaughan who answered 11-yr-old Eden’s question: which SDG do you think we could reach by 2030? MP Vaughan replied: SDG#11 sustainable cities and communities with affordable housing as its first target. 

Students have created a collage gift box for each of the 17 SDGs using pictures from magazines and cut out words/phrases that communicate their reflections on each of the goals (i.e. poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, clean energy, sustainable cities, climate action and good government, among others).  

At Millennium Kids workshops students are creating Canada 150 SDG collage BIRTHDAY GIFT BOXES for each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to let government leaders know that Canadians want to keep our SDG and 0.7% official development assistance promises! 

Millennium Kids are planning to hand-deliver a set of 17 SDG boxes to Parliament, Queen’s Park and Toronto City Hall beginning in June 2017. If you would like to host an MK SDG workshop in the greater Toronto area and create your own Canada 150 SDG birthday gift box in your classroom, please contact [email protected].

More details to follow about joining us for the delivery of the birthday gift boxes.

The 60-75 minute workshop covers the Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations, government, Canada and the global community, and civic engagement. (Suitable for grades 3-12; e.g. gr 5/6 government unit, gr 8 geography, gr 10 civics class.)

If you live outside of the greater Toronto area, cardboard shoeboxes work well for the Canada 150 collage birthday gift box. You can invite your local member of parliament to your classroom to give him/her the SDG gift box or drop it off at your MP’s constituency office. Be sure to explain that the gift box represents your hope that Canada will fulfill our SDG promise and 0.7% ODA funding toward this end as our 150th birthday gift to the world. Click here to find your local MP’s name by your home postal code.

Don't forget to tweet photos of your SDG gift box to Millennium Kids (@MKs4SDGs), your local MP and our Prime Minister (@JustinTrudeau)!

16-year-old Millennium Kid teens Grace and Mercy from Ontario and MK director travelled to New York City to participate in the UN ECOSOC 2017 Youth Forum with hundreds of youth from around the globe. The theme was “The role of youth in poverty eradication and promoting prosperity in a changing world”.

Youth were inspired by UN ECOSOC president H.E. Mr. Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava’s call to increase youth involvement in decision-making at all levels. He emphasized youth bring something vital to the table: new perspective and enthusiasm for change...a youth dividend!

MKs Grace and Mercy met with Canadian UN Ambassador Michael Grant who encouraged them to include provincial and municipal governments in their SDG advocacy efforts, not just the federal government. 

Participants heard that inequality is the defining global issue of their generation, that the dynamism of youth should not be wasted and the median age of parliamentarians globally is 53 years of age.

Participants were encouraged to be policy agents not just policy consumers!

The Millennium Kids’ delegation met a youth who is part of the Swedish government’s SDG Engagement Office tasked with suggesting an SDG implementation plan for their country. MKs wondered why Canada doesn’t have such a team?

17-year-old Millennium Kid Rebekah from Grimsby, Ontario and Millennium Kids director travelled to New York City to participate in the UN ECOSOC Youth Forum 2016 with hundreds of youth from around the globe. The theme was “Youth Taking Action to Implement the 2030 Agenda”.

The messages that emerged from youth were a great passion to be involved in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals nationally and internationally and a desire to equip youth with the know-how to meaningfully engage with their government on the SDGs and generally.

Millennium Kids reps met teens, Charlotte and Claire, from Newfoundland who then joined them at their meeting with Canadian UN Ambassador Michael Grant. The three teens were thrilled to discuss their SDG implementation ideas and questions with Ambassador Grant! The young women swapped stories about whether there is a compulsory high school Civics course in their provinces and whether that course equips youth practically to participate fully in democratic political life (beyond voting).

The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development includes specific goals and targets related to youth. The success of this Agenda will depend on how all sectors of societies engage in its implementation, beyond what is of direct concern to them, and contribute to follow-up and accountability mechanisms to be established in this context.

An AMAZING day on Parliament Hill with 40 Millennium Kids from 14 different schools in Toronto and Niagara hand-delivering 1600+ Welcome Cards for Syrian refugee children to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Mr. John McCallum! Although we were encouraged to have one Millennium Kid hand the Minister her ribbon-tied stack of welcome cards, we couldn’t hold back the stream of children coming forward to hand him their piles too!! Here’s a short VIDEO of the students handing their cards to the Minister.

Millennium Kids watched Prime Minister Trudeau announce during Question Period that the first government flight of Syrian refugees was scheduled to arrive the next evening (Dec 10) in Toronto followed by a second flight Dec 12 in Montreal. We couldn’t have arrived with Welcome Cards on a better day!! The Prime Minister and MPs rose to give the students a standing ovation after MP Julie Dzerowicz gave a member’s statement in the House of Commons thanking Millennium Kids for their efforts. A wonderful exchange of hand-waving from the MPs to the students in the gallery above.

Special thanks to MP Ms. Julie Dzerowicz for kindly hosting us and MPs Mme. Hélène Laverdière, Mr. Dean Allison and Mr. Adam Vaughan for meeting with us to answer students’ questions about Canada’s refugee efforts, resettlement and housing plans.

Students from 45 schools in five provinces have created Welcome Cards so far. Many more are in the works! Let’s together warmly welcome the 50,000 Syrian refugees now expected by the end of 2016. 

Invite your school class, faith community or host a Welcome Card making party with your friends! These one-of-a-kind handmade Welcome Cards will add warmth to thousands of newcomer children’s first experiences in their new home, Canada!

MAIL your Welcome Card to your local Member of Parliament to support Canada’s refugee efforts. No postage required. (House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6) Click here to find your local MP’s name by your home postal code.

Please contact [email protected] if you are a student interested in joining us on the one-day bus trip from Toronto to Parliament December 9, 2015 to deliver the Welcome Cards in-person.

TOGETHER let’s create a beautifully welcoming Canadian culture!!

Please order your own Millennium Kids LAWN SIGN to call Canada’s 42nd Parliament to act now on poverty and climate. This lawn sign rises above partisan candidate signs and becomes an even stronger calling after October 19th when our 42nd Parliament is in place. 

The two photos on the lawn sign are blurred together representing Canadian poverty on the left and global poverty on the right. They are blurred purposefully. We are highlighting the universality of the new UN Global Goals (SDGs). Goal #1 commits signatory nations like Canada to eradicating global extreme poverty alongside halving national poverty by 2030. Together let’s call our 42nd Parliament to ACTION!

Please amplify the voices of Millennium Kids by ordering a lawn sign for your lawn.

HERE’S HOW TO ORDER A SIGN:

1. Call Vista Print 866.859.3406

2. Request “Millennium Kids lawn sign and lawn sign stand” from Millennium Kids account #7933 9594 3960 (the price decreases as quantity increases toward 40 count)

3. Remember to request “Charity or Best Promotion” to receive the daily discount 

4. Change the shipping address to your address

5. Select shipping time (3 days=$20, 5 days=$13, 10 days=$8)

6. Pay for order using your credit card (approx. $21-23 for one lawn sign depending on discount). If you have any difficulty entering your credit card number into the automated Vista Print service, press “*” to return to the live person.