HUMAN RIGHTS: GENEVA: In Small Places, Close To Home

HUMAN RIGHTS: GENEVA: In Small Places, Close To Home

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Photo courtesy of Franklin D. Roosevelt Library via Wikipedia Commons.

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt knew what she was talking about when she said these words.  She was the chair of the UN Human Rights Commission and even wrote part of the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948.  Eleanor Roosevelt was, of course, also the mother of six.

Mothers have an important role to play in making the world a better place for all children. (more…)

Jennifer Prestholdt (USA)

Jennifer Prestholdt is a lawyer and the Deputy Director of The Advocates for Human Rights, a volunteer-based human rights organization that works locally, nationally and internationally. Her work in human rights takes her around the world, but she spends most of her time in Minneapolis, MN, where she lives with her children (two sons and one daughter), her husband, an elderly cat and a dwarf hamster.

As Jennifer’s kids are now all in school (1st, 4th and 6th grades), she is finally finding more time to do the things that she used to love to do, especially running, writing and knitting. Jennifer loves to travel and has had the dubious distinction of having been accidentally locked in a bathroom on five continents so far. Australia and Antarctica await!

In January 2011, Jennifer made a New Year’s Resolution to start writing about her experiences in order to share with her children the lessons learned from 15 years of work in human rights. The result is her personal blog, The Human Rights Warrior. The name comes from her son Simon, who was extremely disappointed to learn that his mother is a lawyer, not a warrior.

You can find her on her blog The Human Rights Warrior or on Twitter @Jprestholdt.

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BLOGIVERSARY: Year 1!

This time last year I was repeating the affirmation, “International moms will write for World Moms Blog.” (I can’t believe I just admitted that.) But, I was really nervous about launching the new blog, and it was nearing November 1st, 2010, my planned launch date.

Today we have over 50 international writers and maintain a wait list for USA writers.

And the list of countries that I hoped to be starting the blog with numbered to just three.  It was more difficult than I thought to recruit mothers in other countries who wanted to write.

Today we write from 16 countries.

Back then, I decided our first post had to be from outside the United States, since we had a bunch of USA writers, and many of our first fans were, well, my friends in the US.  So, I told Asta Burrows of Norway that she was first up!

And she immediately gave me a confident, “No, you go first!” (more…)

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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