This is the latest version of my proposed competition entry. I am hoping to hear soon whether Shawn Ahmed will be happy for me to attach his 'The poor aren't lazy' video. I'm overjoyed that Meron has agreed to my request to use her wonderful Computer Rainbow image!!

A Worldwide Connectory: THE IDEA IS THE DESIGN

You can‘t expect to save the whole world on your own, even with help from family, friends, work colleagues and neighbours

But working together, you could make a big difference to people on the other side of our global village by helping them achieve their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - see pictures

So, if tiny Salt Spring Island (Canada) can form SOLID, a community organisation, to bring a computer rainbow to Lesotho and Shawn Ahmed can almost single-handedly transform lives in Tangail (Bangladesh) …

Why couldn’t…

…Vermont help eradicate poverty in Kenyan slums

…Gothenburg ensure every child in Sud province, Haiti goes to school

…Iceland and the Faroe Islands empower women in Danja (Nigeria)

…Bristol reduce child mortality in N’djamena (Chad)

…Northern Turin collaborate with Benguela province (Angola) so fewer women die in childbirth

…Tasmania support HIV/AIDS projects in Louangphrabang (Laos)

…Fukuyama (Japan) provide wells in Ndola (Zambia)

…Santa Barbara widen internet access in districts of Kabul

The secret is to divide large problems into smaller, more manageable bits.

That’s what the World Connectory Project has already done. The world’s richest and poorest countries have been divided into 4,800 areas of roughly equal population size. Rich and poor will be paired in random partnerships (using a RNG) and invited to work together until 2015 to achieve all the MDGs in their own partnership area:

STEP ONE: spread the word

1. viral communication
2. boosted, ideally, by international reality TV shows

STEP TWO: research your own partnership’s MDG deficits and identify organisations working to reduce them

STEP THREE: mount public awareness campaigns to enlist active support

1. Recruit people into local Connection Groups (based on community organisation, locality or recreational, occupational, or faith group.)
2. Connection Groups organise public meetings, recruitment events and exhibitions highlighting the development needs of their own partnership area and showcasing effective solutions - including the Millennium Villages project - that have been successfully implemented elsewhere.

STEP FOUR: implement six-point plan:

1. hold governments to account re MDG promises (lobbying & letter-writing campaigns)
2. support organisations whose local projects are achieving MDGs
3. develop links between people and organisations to enhance skills & resources (twinnings, visits & exchanges)
4. help extend Millennium Villages cluster projects
5. invest in local organisations with potential to achieve MDGs
6. promote microfinance schemes

AN EFFICIENT MODEL:

Supports existing projects

Engages whole communities

Comprehensive, with no duplication

A partnership for every place

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3 125/2585913518_0c8f2738e5.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wiki pedia/commons/0/04/Nairobi_slums _area.svg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wiki pedia/commons/7/76/Kibera.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wik i/Image:Laos_AIDS_education_camp aign.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wik i/Image:Santa_barbara_from_court house_tower.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wik i/Image:Female_students_of_Afgha nistan_in_2005.jpg#file

http://www.youtube.com/v/a9IS-3Z 5EC4