Mar 12, 2009 by Kavya Mohan
United Nations Millennium Development Goals:
It is not very tough these days to find ambitious children. But here is a boy who is highly ambitious, yet with a lot of difference.
11-year-old Vigi has been always upfront to creativity. Recently winning a global level contest, Vigi is set for his next venture. Inspired by his mate Dylan Mahalingam, 13, from the United States, Vigi has started an initiative called Kodomo MDGs.
The mission of Kodomo MDGs is to raise awareness about United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Vigi works closely with the Lil'MDGs www.lilmdgs.org, an organisation started by Dylan in 2004.
In 2000, the MDGs proposed eight goals which the members of United Nations have agreed to achieve by 2015. They include campaigns to reduce extreme poverty, infant mortality, halting the spread of epidemics, promoting gender equality, and developing a global partnership for development. These goals aim at improving social and economic conditions in the world’s poorest countries.
The stepping stone to this initiative in Japan was taken by Vigi when he presented all the goals of Lil'MDGs to his fellow mates at school, The K International School, Kiyosumi Shirakawa, Tokyo, Japan. The students seemed convincingly interested and excited about the entire idea. Regardless of their young age, the children got the confidence of making the difference.
Ms. Allan Cox, secondary Teacher at K International School, Tokyo said: "This is a very proactive effort. I have heard about the Millennium Development Goals. This presentation would be very useful as we would be studying Human Rights in the third term which would include these goals as well so this is a great introduction."
Vigi's presentation has strong reverberations in the United States. When asked about it, Dylan said: "Vigi is an exceptional young boy. He is extremely motivated and committed to Kodomo MDGs. I am positive that he is the ideal student to engage all the children in Japan. Japan is the first country to officially establish a youth-related version of Lil' MDGs. I am excited about this commitment and Lil'MDGs will support Kodomo MDGs' efforts in everyway possible."
Another teacher of the school, Ms. Sasha Marshal said: "I think the goals are important things. There are few things which can't be changed but these things can be achieved with effort from all the young people."
Kodomo MDGs is currently working on developing a web presence, which is expected to go online this April.
