The project aims to mobilise the support of Cypriot, Maltese, Romanian, and Greek citizens for the fight against global poverty and the MDG agenda with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. This mobilization will have a snowball positive effect towards the eradication of global poverty. In the new Member States (NMS) of the EU, the lack of education and academic resources has negative consequences and contributes towards a lack of interest in development and on the public debate on MDGs. These problems are interrelated. Development Education resources are needed, and in particular those that facilitate the anchoring of Development policies in the NMS’s societies. Currently, there are no opportunities in any of these countries to take introductory courses on international cooperation for development, and neither do secondary nor higher education institutions offer a program for development studies. However, Development has only a marginal role in the teaching process; it is entirely dependent on the level of knowledge and interest of the individual professor.

As a group of concerned NGOs and universities, we realized that Development studies are hardly accessible for students in our countries, especially if they want to study in their national language or have a preference – for any reason – to register at a local university. This action aims to produce topic specific educational resources, designated for secondary schools, universities and NGOs that can be adopted in their national education curricula and activities. Thus, they will actively contribute to the development debate and policy-building processes on a national and European level.

Beyond the general awareness raising efforts, the Development problems addressed by this action are co-related with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) agenda and other Development-related issues, through the modules that each country will develop. The modules will be developed to target the specific subjects, and they will be aligned with MDGs and Development Policy documents, as well as be contextualised within the national and other NMS settings. A cross-cutting theme for all modules will be the gender and equal opportunities issues, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. The modules were assigned in this particular way to resonate with national capacities and sensitivities.