Target 4.7 – MUN Impact

**UPDATE: To see the most recent readings along with a link to join the conversation, see our running notes page here.**

Target 4.7 promotes sustainable development through global education. It is one of the most ambitious and complex SDG targets. It sits at the heart of the Model United Nations experience, and MUN Impact and its partners are stepping up to both own the Target and develop a mechanism to collect data that is missing from the reporting mechanisms currently in place.

Target 4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

We believe that PARTICIPATING in MUN advances target 4.7, and that EXPANDING MUN programs to others is a way of promoting global education and competencies that directly align with this ambitious target.

MUN Impact, along with its partners, is initiating a conversation in the MUN community around 4.7, through two unique initiatives. A Personal Learning Network (PLN) for MUN Directors and educators is being established to discuss the ways that MUN activities align and support global competencies. As we promote this conversation within the MUN community, a comprehensive data-gathering mechanism will be piloted by a small number of schools in 2019-2020, with a larger global role out in late 2020. The hope is to develop a method to capture, through data, something that MUN Directors and students already know: Model United Nations has lasting impact on its participants by deepening global ed competencies, which in turn are the foundation for the mindset and skills needed to live and promote sustainability in all its forms.

#SDG4point7 #WeGotThis

4.7 Personal Learning Network

Led by Maria Manacheril of the American School of Doha, participants will be given a monthly reading that relates to Global Education, its place in the UN ecosystem, and the intersection of these competencies and goals within MUN itself. Participants will interact via social media, and receive a digital certificate at the end of the eight month discussion. The goal is to foster deeper understanding among MUN Directors about where Model United Nations fits into the Global Goals, specifically 4.7, and how the MUN community can draw attention to this alignment both with their students and other educational stakeholders, including the United Nations itself. Sign up at http://bit.ly/Target4-7

Our Challenge

***Update: Target 4.7 has been updated to Tier II status as of December 2019. You can access all of the Tiers and their status, including updates, in this December 2019 document.***

Target 4.7 currently faces several unique challenges. The indicators underpinning this target (expressed in raw numbers of students studying curriculum with a global education component) is not universally practiced. The weaknesses of both the data and how it is gathered has reduced this target to a Tier III status. This means that without an established and comprehensive means to gather data to track progress, target 4.7 is in danger of being eliminated. The MUN Impact community is stepping up to start this conversation, support 4.7, and advocate for the importance of MUN to support global education.

We hope you will join this conversation.