MDGs in Focus

Programmes in 'The MDGs in Focus' address the development issues underlying each of the 8 MDGs. These films are divided into various series, each with its own web-based site - some of which enable visitors to view the films online, to learn more about the issue(s) and protagonist(s) featured in the film(s), and to discuss how to take action. The following examples from each series illustrate some of the communication strategies used by the filmmakers:

• Life - a series of 5 TVE films that explore the obstacles that prevent industrialised countries from delivering the promises they made at the Millennium Summit in September 2000, as enshrined in MDG #8 - the global partnership for development. Example: "Kill or Cure?" examines what the membership of India (known for over a decade as the powerhouse behind the production of low-cost generic drugs) in the World Trade Organization (WTO) means for the provision of affordable medicines.
• Element - six 5-minute programmes developed for MTV which bring the issues of climate change, poverty, and discrimination to young viewers through the stories of young people. Example - Craig started fighting child slavery at the age of 12; in his twenties he created Free The Children, a global network of young people helping all children have access to primary education - to the end of meeting MDG #2.
• Africa Calling - 8 short films featuring ordinary Africans - from Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone - delivering a powerful series of messages direct to the G8 leaders meeting in Gleneagles in July 2005 about the things that would most improve their lives. Example: Abimbola runs a business manufacturing lenses for spectacles in Lagos, Nigeria. Continuous power cuts, coupled with the lack of a reliable water supply, mean his equipment is always breaking down. He explains to the G8 leaders how cancelling the debts of his country would enable Nigeria to invest in improving its infrastructure to boost manufacturing industry.
• "Dead Mums Don't Cry" - a BBC Panorama documentary that tells the story of Grade Kodindo, an obstetrician committed to trying to deliver on the MDG#5 promise to cut maternal mortality in the West African country of Chad, a country where one in 11 mothers die from preventable causes in childbirth.

In an effort to reach the greatest number of viewers, TVE and OWBT have teamed up with media broadcasters and foundations to air many of the films on television. For instance, the Life films have been broadcast globally on BBC World, as well as in over 18 countries. In the summer of 2008, for instance, GoedTV, in conjunction with Dutch media foundation lokaalmondiaal, is broadcasting 5 of the films in the run-up to the September 25 High Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals in New York (NY, in the United States), while Indian TV channel INX is also planning to broadcast them across India in September. Ongoing European coverage of MDG issues is also encouraged through an international 'MDG award' presented each year at the One World Media Awards in London (United Kingdom).

Millennium Development Goals.

TVE is currently finishing the follow-up project, "The View from the South" - again, in partnership with OWBT and lokaalmondial - which includes a new series of 5 Life programmes. These programmes, which are part of the series Life on the Edge, reflect on progress made to meet the MDGs at the halfway point. Scheduled to begin global broadcast on BBC World News on August 5 2008 and on Goed TV in the Netherlands in the autumn of 2008, the series will also be broadcast in India.