In his report "We the peoples, the role of the United Nations in the twenty first century" (also known as the Millennium report), Kofi Annan presented an overview of the challenges facing humankind and the progress being made. This book contains a series of briefing papers that can help students understand the key themes of that report. Each paper presents a review of the issue under discussion, identifies recent developments, explains areas needing attention and includes case studies. Amongst the topics covered are: AIDS; biodiversity; child labour; children's rights; climate change; disarmament; poverty; human rights and international law.