by Jennifer Burden | Sep 21, 2013 | 2013, Social Good, World Voice
We can’t wait to head to New York City tomorrow to attend this year’s Social Good Summit! This is one of our favorite conferences, and a great place to catch up with many of the people and foundations, including some that are a part of our #Moms4MDGs campaign, that we work with online throughout the year. It will take place at the 92nd St. Y in Manhattan from Sunday, September 22nd through Tuesday, September 24th in tandem with the Summit at the United Nations.
World Moms Blog editors and contributors, Elizabeth Atalay, Nicole Melancon, Nicole Morgan and LaShaun Martin are on their way to New York City! And my very good friend, Kelly Pugliano from EatPicks and Mom Got Blog, will be coming to the Social Good Summit for the first time with us. We’ll be attending both, sessions at the Social Good Summit, and thanks to ONE.org and the GAVI Alliance, panels at the United Nations. There will be so much to learn and to write home about! We will also be meeting Wateraid and attending a special lunch with ONE.org, Save the Children and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And LaShaun will be speaking at the summit for Shot@Life! And Nicole Morgan will be on stage to tell her wishes for her children! We can’t wait!!
And to top it all off this week, we’ll be meeting World Moms Blog contributor, Nancy Sumari from Tanzania! She is the former Miss Tanzania and Miss Africa World and current social entrepreneur. We are over the moon excited about meeting her!!!
I also have something else super excited to tell you — this year, I was awarded a “Global Influencers” Fellowship by the UN Foundation. Along with 9 of my peers in various places of the media industry, I will be up early and taking special classes to discuss and brainstorm the MDGs and more with guest speakers prior to the start of the conference each day. I’m really looking forward to telling you all about this!
Speakers this year include Al Gore, Melinda Gates, Will.i.am and more!
And the good news is that you don’t have to wait until we attend the summit to hear all about it. There is a live stream that you can join in!
Click here for the live stream: Social Good Summit 2013 LiveStream.
Follow the Social Good Summit’s hashtag on Twitter: #2030Now
Be part of the conversation! Let’s make a difference!
Jennifer Burden, Founder, World Moms Blog.
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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by Jennifer Burden | Sep 5, 2013 | Social Good, World Voice
Did you know that it was 6 months after Hurricane Katrina until the last child was reunited with her parents in Louisiana? SIX months. Did you also know that just after the fatal shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut a mother was sent to three different locations where she was told her child may be until she found out that she had lost her child in the shootings? And that there are more pet reunification programs set in place than for human children?
According to Kathy Spangler, Vice President in charge of US Programs at Save the Children, this is unacceptable. She stated that many schools or child care facilities in the United States still do not have a reunification plan in place in the case of disaster.
Jennifer Burden of World Moms Blog and her 2-year old daughter sit down with Kathy Spangler, VP of US Operations at Save the Children, at St. Anne’s Child Care Center in Keansburg, NJ, marking 10 months after Hurricane Sandy affected the area.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit down with Kathy Spangler in Keansburg, just a few towns over from where I live in New Jersey, USA. The town of Keansburg was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy last October. The storm overall was responsible for over 50 billion USD worth of damage including 650,000 homes and hundreds of child care centers and schools. In town we viewed the finished post-storm repairs needed by a local day care, St. Ann’s, which were made possible by Save the Children.
Judy Abrahamsen, the Director of St. Ann’s Child Care Center explained that the playground had been covered with sludge from the flood waters, and the ceiling had a major leak.
When asked, she responded that the major obstacle in finding aid for the day care’s repairs, initially, was finding the time to pinpoint the grants and take the time to fill out the many forms while still running the business. Save the Children came to the rescue. And Kathy Spangler explained that running a day care is a labor of love, and those in the business are not in it for the windfall money, but because they love working with children. These businesses often don’t have the reserves on hand when natural disaster occurs, yet we need safe spaces for children, especially in times of disaster.
Within 24 hours after Sandy hit, Save the Children had over 130 people on the ground. The journey back to NJ this week was momentous, as they just launched their annual National Report Card in Protecting Children in Disaster, and New Jersey was one of four states to take action and meet the minimum emergency planning standards for children in times of disaster for the first time.
“Save the Children’s disaster report card tracks progress on four critical standards: that states require all child care centers to have 1) an evacuation plan, 2) a family reunification plan, and 3) a plan for children with special needs, and 4) that states require all schools to have disaster plans that account for multiple types of hazards.” However, 28 US states and the District of Columbia fall short.
“Back to school week in New Jersey is a reminder that we must do more to protect the nation’s 68 million children who are separated from their parents on any given weekday.”
Also, on this date, Save the Children launched a new preparedness initiative called “Get Ready, Get Safe” to help families and communities protect children at times of disaster.
On their site parents in the United States can send an electronic letter urging their governor to take action, make a donation and/or sign up to receive action alerts to stay informed. Spangler also encourages parents to stay informed and ask their children’s schools about reunification plans. Whether you are reading this from Newark, NJ or Naples, Italy, we can all kick off child advocacy by asking the simple question: “What is the reunification plan for my child?”
See the full report and take action at www.savethechildren.org/GetReady.
What do you say, parents? Will you find out if your child’s school has a plan set in place?
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by Founder, Jennifer Burden of New Jersey, USA. Please look out for more on this trip by following Jennifer on twitter @JenniferBurden.
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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by Jennifer Burden | Aug 20, 2013 | World Moms Blog, World Motherhood
We Did It Again!
This just in! World Moms Blog is listed for a 2nd year in a row by Forbes Woman in their “100 Best Websites for Women 2013“! The news came to us through a Facebook Fan, and we are literally OVER THE MOON across the continents abuzz with the great news!
Forbes says, “We couldn’t be happier to present the fourth annual list of FORBES 100 Best Websites for Women than we are today—for this year more than any other this has been true collaborative effort by dedicated staffers, contributors and ForbesWoman readers. For that reason it just might be—dare we say it—the best list ever.”
What does Forbes Woman look for in choosing their top 100? They say, ” Informative and compelling content, sure, but also smart design, engaged communities and a voice that speaks to and for the female reader.” And also, “these 100 websites look to educate, inform and entertain you in ways you won’t find in the mainstream.”
And what Forbes said uniquely about us, “For a truly global perspective on motherhood, World Moms brings together writers from the US and Canada to Australia, China, India and Japan to discuss parenting across cultures.” Here we are in pictures on the Forbes site, too.
Saying we’re honored is an understatement.
Congratulations to all of our amazing editing and contributing staff; you, our dedicated readers; our life-saving web designer and tech support; and the organizations that have acknowledged our work such as BlogHer, Forbes Woman and the NY Times Motherlode; and also those organizations that have supported our campaigns for social good such as the UN Foundation & Shot@Life, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ONE.org, GAVI Alliance and more!
The support of this award motivates our mothers to keep doing the work that we do according to our mission statement:
- Connecting mothers around the world through their stories.
- Promoting understanding and tolerance of other cultures, religions and nationalities.
- Encouraging discussion of important motherhood, parenting, cultural and human rights topics.
- Creating a support system for mothers via the web site.
- Helping to promote our writers.
- To strive to create opportunities for social good to make the lives of mothers and children better around the planet.
I wish I could hop a plane around the world and hug each and every one of our World Moms today! I really, really mean that! Well done, ladies.
Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we work toward new goals and becoming even better with this honor, “Forbes Best 100 Websites for Women 2013” as our motivation. We’re not stopping. Let’s do it, ladies!
— Jennifer Burden, Founder, WorldMomsBlog.com
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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by Jennifer Burden | Jul 30, 2013 | 2013, Social Good, World Voice
World Moms Blog Speaks Out…
…Millennium Development Goals
We announced our new campaign at BlogHer Chicago at the BlogHer International Activists Panel! Join us for our monthly twitter parties with hashtag #Moms4MDGs to keep the conversation flowing about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)! Back in April our Senior Editor, Purnima Ramakrishnan asked, “What if we keep writing about the MDGs?”, just after two rounds of twitter parties that we hosted for the Momentum 1000 campaign last April. The campaign made a lot of noise for good, while reminding the world there were only 1000 days left until the 2015 deadlines for the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Purnima’s question led to more brainstorming, and here’s what we we launched in July: 
An Exciting All Volunteer, 8 Month
MDG Awareness & Action Campaign!
World Moms Blog is organizing a global “walk around” the MDG’s called “World Moms Blog Speaks Out…Millennium Development Goals.” What is that?
Well, every month, for 8 months (1 per the 8 MDGs), one of our World Moms will answer the question, “Why is (the month’s MDG) important to me as a mother?”
Her post will be hosted by an organization’s web site that is working relentlessly, year-round toward that particular MDG. For example, our first post ran on August 13th on the ONE Campaign’s site by our editor, Nicole Melancon, for MDG 1, to eradicate extreme poverty.
How Can You Help Save the World?
This project brings awareness to the MDGs and showcases an organization working toward an MDG goal per month. By sharing the post of the month, writing your own post about the campaign, joining the monthly twitter parties or carrying out each month’s action items when possible, together, we can make a difference!
And when the World Moms get together to chat…it’s always fun!
The next twitter party will take place on Wednesday, March 19th from 1-2pm EST on MDG, forming global partnerships for development! The hashtag is #Moms4MDGs, and we encourage all moms around the world to join in the discussion! We are lucky, again, to go out with a bang with cohosts, Girls Globe and Multicultural Kid Blogs!
Haven’t been to a twitter party? You can do something as simple as tweet what the MDG of the month is, ask questions, share ideas and meet other people interested in the same global issues. What a great reason to join and to socialize with our World Moms! How to come to the party: You can search for the hashtag (#Moms4MDGs) to join in on twitter from your phone, or if you’re at your computer, go to www.tweetchat.com and enter the #Moms4MDGs hashtag to follow and participate in the thread! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #Moms4MDGs. (We are not being paid by any organization to work on this campaign. This service is part of our mission statement stated at the bottom of our site.)
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
IT WAS A BLAST! –> JULY 2013: Join our #Moms4MDGs twitter party on July 31, 2013 at 9pm EST until 10pm EST. Say hello to the World Moms and learn about or see how well you know the MDGs!
1) WE KICKED OFF MDG1! –> AUGUST 2013: MDG1, To Eradicate Extreme Poverty at ONE.org with World Mom, Nicole Melancon of thirdeyemom to post on August 13th, plus a twitter party on Wednesday, August 14th 9-10pm EST! —>
2) 57 MILLION CHILDREN WITH NO ACCESS TO PRIMARY EDUCATION –>:SEPTEMBER 2013: MDG2, Achieve Universal Primary Education with World Mom, Martine deLuna at Save the Children.
3) OCTOBER 2013: MDG3, Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women. Girl Up and Plan International in the USA stepped in to cohost our Twitter Parties! This month’s post was by World Mom, Mama B, in Saudia Arabia on her volunteerism with Al-Nahda.
4) NOVEMBER 2013, MDG4: Reduce Child Mortality: We’re at the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life Campaign with World Mom, Purnima Ramakrishnan in India! We kicked off 2 twitter parties on World Pneumonia Day for child survival!
5) Improve Maternal Health: World Mom Dee Harlow in Laos Speaks Maternal Health at Every Mother Counts!
#Moms4MDGs Twitter Parties December 18th at 1-2pm EST and 9-10pm EST
6) Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases. Meet us at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with World Mom Erin Threlfall!
#Moms4MDGs Twitter Parties January 15th at 1-2pm EST and 9-10pm EST
7) FEBRUARY 2014, MDG7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability. Meet us in Brazil as Esquel Foundation with World Mom, EcoZiva!
NEXT UP!! — > JOIN US FOR THE GRAND FINALE MDG8 TWITTER PARTY! –>
8) MARCH 2014, MDG8: Global Partnership for Development. The Last MDG with World Mom Elizabeth Atalay on the GAVI Alliance Blog!
Mark your Calendars for THE GRAND FINALE!: #Moms4MDGs Twitter Parties March 19th at 1-2pm EST with our cohosts Girls Globe & Multicultural Kid Blogs!
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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by Jennifer Burden | Jul 2, 2013 | Shot@Life, Social Good, Uganda, World Voice
This is Day 4 of a trip to Uganda with the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign. World Moms Blog founder, Jennifer Burden, was part of the delegation to observe UNICEF’s Family Health Days in October 2012.
Elizabeth, a volunteer health worker and Ugandan mother who helps to administer life-saving vaccines to children under 5 years old in Fort Portal with World Moms Blog Founder, Jennifer Burden, on a Shot@Life trip to Uganda in October 2012.
At Church in Uganda
Sunday, we rose and prepared for the Family Health Day in the town of Fort Portal, which is about a 4 hour drive from Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Our delegation split in two because there were two Family Health Days within our reach that our group wanted to cover, so some of our group headed to a Catholic Church. I was with the group that was at an Anglican church for a Family Health Day.
It was that day that I met John the Baptist, a man who wished to continue school to become a priest, but economics didn’t allow him to do so. He now worked for the town of Fort Portal and accompanied us on our trip. It turned out John the Baptist has a 6 year old daughter, and she and my own 5 year daughter are becoming pen pals over e-mail. What a fantastic cultural experience that may grow out of this trip for two of the world’s children!
We arrived at a grassy knoll with a church on top of the hill. It was picturesque. The familiar (to me) tune of hymns were coming from the building, and on the outside, the health workers were setting up their stations under trees and outside of buildings. Signs were words scrawled on paper: “HIV Testing Here” “Immunizations for Children Under 5”, etc.
First, Cindy Levin’s curiosity led us all into the mass. We sat on what looked like hand made wooden pews and the church inside was painted sky blue and had what looked like Christmas garland hanging from side to side overhead. The energy of the people singing inside was intense! As the priest spoke in a local African dialect, I was able to follow the mass. Not from what he said, but by the sing-song of his tone. I recognized the “Our Father” and the “The Apostle’s Creed” from my days of growing up as a Catholic, although I currently choose not to practice a religion now.
UNICEF Family Health Day
Afterwards we met with health workers, including a lab technician conducting HIV testing, a nurse midwife, and various volunteers administering vaccines, taking blood pressure and testing for malnutrition in small children. The delegation spent time observing each post, but former Mexican nurse, Felisa Hilbert, took it one step further and helped take blood pressure to the smiles of many people waiting in line.
Felisa Hilbert, a former nurse from Mexico, volunteers to take blood pressure during a UNICEF Family Health Day on a Shot@Life trip to Uganda.
Families waited under the shade of large, beautiful trees for their family members who were utilizing the health services. I had the chance to see children receive polio vaccinations.
Interacting with the mothers who were receiving these immunization services for their children was profound for me, after spending almost a year advocating for their children to have access to them.
The people we met in Uganda were curious and open to conversation, and so were we. Having previous been an British colony, English is common in Uganda. Having this common medium, made it possible for our delegation to really experience the local culture and people of Uganda.
I asked so many questions, met so many people and took a lot of notes. The trip has been an asset for me in leading discussions on Twitter for social good for World Moms Blog, for presenting on Shot@Life, in my writing, and in lobbying US Congress on global health and vaccines, talking to friends. But perhaps, it’s greatest impact will be on my daughters due to the multitude of stories I share with them about the children I met in Uganda. My experiences as part of this delegation were so meaningful. Thank you, again, to the UN Foundation and Shot@Life for giving me this great gift that I will continue to share in my advocacy.
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by founder, Jennifer Burden, in NJ, USA. To read more about Jennifer’s trip with Shot@Life to Uganda, check out Day 1 about UNICEF offices in Kampala, Uganda, Day 2 of her trip at a UNICEF Family Health Day in Mumbende, Uganda and Day 3 about signs of poverty.
Photo credits to the author.
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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