Over 200 million people don’t have jobs, and many of those who do still live in poverty. Achieving Goal 8 means creating decent jobs, equipping young people with relevant job skills, protecting everyone’s labour rights, and putting a stop to child labour. 

Instructions:

Split the participants into teams of 6. In each team two people are the workers, two are the government and two are the health services.   

The game is organised as a relay race, with each person having to complete their task before the next person can begin theirs. We’ve included suggestions for tasks, but feel free to adapt them based on your group’s ability and the materials available to you. 

The worker begins the race by completing their task (ex. Solving a puzzle or doing ten jumping jacks) when they complete the challenge, they pick up a ball and pass it to the government. 

The government then completes their challenge (ex. Throwing the ball into a container, running through an obstacle course). The government then passes the ball to the emergency services. 

The emergency services then complete their task (ex. Balancing the ball on their head while running around the room) while making the sound of an ambulance.  

They tap the second worker and the cycle starts again. The first team to complete the cycle win. 

Debrief:  

Discuss with the group the concept of taxes, explain that a piece of the money earned goes to the government who uses this money to pay for things for everyone, such as health services.

• Do you think it’s important to have taxes?  
• Do you think everyone should pay the same amount of tax?  

Instructions:

Divide the participants into 2 groups. One team represents the executive leadership team of a big corporation and the other the underpaid workers creating the product for this business.   

The teams need to earn a wage (the rocks) by doing a task, for example running a lap around the room, doing jumping jacks etc.  

• Members of team CEO must do 2 laps to get 1 rock 
• Members of team Workers must do 10 laps to get 1 rock 

For every 2 rocks the team earns, they need to put 1 into the bucket. 

Play the game over 10/15 minutes.  

When the game has finished, discuss economic growth with the group. 

Economic growth is the increase in the production of goods and services in a country. It is measured using Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is calculated by adding together the amount of added value in a country over a period of time. These numbers come from the different organisations and places that are generating wealth for the country such as households, companies, banks etc.  

The less money a company needs to spend to create a product (from paying staff to buying materials), the more it can gain off the sale of the product. While this can quickly increase the wealth of the company, it is not always a good thing for the people who work there.   

Debrief:  

• Which team won the most rocks? 
• Which team contributed the most to the economy (the centre bucket)? 
• What did you feel during this game? 
• Do they know any examples of those types of unfair workplace? 

Instructions:

As a group, create a menu for a trip away. Make a list of all materials and ingredients needed.  

Together, come up with different places these materials can be bought from. Focusing on local businesspeople such as butchers and bakers and avoiding large corporations as much as possible.  

After the trip, encourage participants to speak with their families about using more sustainable and local products at home! 

Instructions:

Begin by creating a list of the groups favourite brands, focusing on things they use every or nearly every day.  

From the list each group should choose two or three brands they want to research. They should focus on the brands policy regarding working conditions.  

• What country do they manufacture their products in? 
• Do the workers have a decent minimum salary and decent working condition? 

Each group should present the information they’ve learned with the other participants.  

Debrief: 

• What can you do to challenge this? 
• Did what you learned make you think about not buying their product anymore?