by World Moms Network | Sep 24, 2021 | 2021, World Voice
What Are SustainableDevelopment Goals?
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Agenda includes 17 goal, known as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), which are an urgent call to action by all people from all nations for the betterment of humanity and the planet.
The United Nations General Assembly (#UNGA) meeting is happening in New York City this week (September 21-27, 2021). In recognition of UNGA, some of our World Moms chimed in about which SDG resonates most with them and why.
What SDG Means the Most to You and Why?
Tes in The US says: I believe that all the SDGs are important but for me, SDG#5-Gender Equality, is what I am passionate about. Being Filipino but raised here in the United States, I have witnessed a country with its share of inequality. While inequality does exist for girls and women in jobs and education, I am grateful and lucky to be able to fight against it and advocate for girls and women through the opportunities presented to me on a daily basis.
Nitsana in Israel says: I remember how impressed and excited I was about seeing the list of SDGs. You can’t fix something if you don’t have a goal. A goal is the first step for having a plan, and with a plan, everything is possible. I love them all but I think the ones that touch me most deeply are ending poverty and hunger. There are several reasons I see these as the most basic and important. First, it should be our primary goal to make sure every human is cared for in the most basic sense, that he/she can live a life of dignity. I want to live in a world where everyone is cared for. Also, once the population of the world is out of “survival mode,” anything is possible. It says something about us as humans that we make sure to care for others; that we set up systems where everyone can thrive. I have a lot to say about each of the goals but these, to me, are the first step.
Piya in India says: While all the SDGs are very important, my heart beats for SDG#5, Gender equality! As Director of VESLARC, I am privileged to be working in the domain of gender sensitization. We put an emphasis on mutual respect for several thousand students of the various schools and colleges of Vivekanand Education Society, in Mumbai, India. It’s a sad yet undeniable truth that there are major disparities, when it comes to opportunities for education, job openings, career progression, and pay scales, between men and women. SDG 5 is not only for empowering our girls and women. The “hidden” fact is that a culture that is strongly patriarchal is also “bad news” for its men. Peer pressure and the need to conform to stereotypes can diminish the sense of identity of our boys. We need to join hands to empower every young child—irrespective of gender or gender orientation—about their tremendous potential and help them shake free of limiting labels!
Kyla in Portugal says: For me, the two most important SDGs are Gender Equality and Quality Education, which, to me, go hand-in-hand. The saying goes: “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach the man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” I think the saying should say: “Give a woman a fish, you’ll feed her family for a day. Teach a woman to fish, you’ll feed a whole community.” I have long been an advocate for Girl Power and Women Empowerment. The path to achieving these is through education.
Simona in Spain says: The most important goal for me is Good Health and Wellbeing. My grandfather was a doctor. He used to say, “health is the 1 that gives value to all the 0s of life.” By that he meant that if (for example) you are rich but don’t have your health, you have 0, but if you are healthy and wealthy, you have 10. Nothing is worth anything if you are not healthy enough to use it or enjoy it. It also upsets me terribly that very often life-saving procedures or medicines are simply unaffordable to the vast majority of people. As someone who lives with medical issues which require me to take chronic medicines, I am painfully aware of this cost. I am one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to choose between necessary medicine and food but for many, that is the monthly struggle. People shouldn’t have to remortgage their homes in order to be able to pay for the necessary procedures and / or medicines and / or mobility aids they need.
Jen in The US says: It is difficult to pick just one, so I’m picking two of my favorite SDGs! #4 the right to a universal education and #5 women and girl empowerment. My ancestors who were immigrants wanted an education, but they couldn’t afford it. As for me, I wanted to study abroad, but couldn’t afford it during college. I think education shouldn’t just be for those who can afford it. Otherwise, the world misses out on so many incredible minds and ideas to move us forward! Also, education serves as a step out of poverty for so many around the globe, which makes it so important. And until women and girls are treated equally, I’ll be fighting!!
Purnima in India says: I think all of the SDGs are important. I cannot say that I love SDG #5 more because I am passionate about Gender Equality and want to see the well-being of my sisters across the world, rather than SDG #1 which is ‘No Poverty’. How can we achieve SDG #3, which is Good Health and Well Being, if we do not also achieve #1 and #2? So I think ALL of these SDGs are very important and feel for all of them equally. If we do not have peace in our hearts, and if we do not come together and make friendships and relationships and partnerships (SDG #16 and SDG #17), how can we solve SDG#1 through #5, or for that matter, any of the SDGs?! My personal SDG journey began at World Moms Network. When I started out, my contribution to WMN was just a hobby. Over the years, this sisterhood has given me serious life-goals. This is why I cannot pick just one.
Tell us what United Nations Sustainable Development Goal is most important to YOU. World Moms want to know.
This is a collaborative post for World Moms Network from our global network of contributors. The images used in this post come directly from the #UNSDG website and are used digitally based on their guidelines.
World Moms Network is an award winning website whose mission statement is "Connecting mothers; empowering women around the globe." With over 70 contributors who write from over 30 countries, the site covered the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good.
Most recently, our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan was awarded "Best Reporting on the UN" form the UNCA. The site has also been named a "Top Website for Women" by FORBES Woman and recommended by the NY Times Motherlode and the Times of India. Follow our hashtags: #worldmom and #worldmoms
Formerly, our site was known as World Moms Blog.
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by Jennifer Burden | Dec 28, 2015 | 2015, International, North America, World Interviews
Hello World Moms!
Today on the blog we are sharing a video and photos from our time at the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA) gala from December 14th, 2015 on the blog!
World Mom, Purnima Ramakrishnan of India, won the Elizabeth Neuffer Bronze award for “Best Reporting on the UN.” She was unable to attend due to family obligations and the floods in Chennai, India, where she resides. In her place, Elizabeth Atalay, our Managing Editor, and I had the honor of accepting Purnima’s award for her at the UNCA gala. It was an incredible night!
https://www.facebook.com/worldmomsblog/videos/1290132341031041/
Prior to the awards, I was invited to a private cocktail hour with fellow award winners, where we had the honor of meeting UN Secretary General, Ban ki-Moon!
After shaking hands, we had the opportunity for a mini photo session with the UN Secretary General.
Elizabeth and I met up with Dan Thomas, Communications Director and Spokesperson for the President of the UN. We worked with Dan when he was in Switzerland at the GAVI Alliance on a project to help raise awareness for vaccinations in the developing world. It was so fun to finally all meet in person!
Meeting and talking with fellow UNCA award winners was also a highlight of the night!
Please see the full list of the 2015 UNCA award winners at the UNCA.com site.
We are thankful to our community of readers, contributors and editors. Look what we can achieve with you all! Thank you for believing in us. We, at World Moms Blog, are looking forward to 2016 and have a lot of exciting plans to announce in the year ahead!
Happy New Year Around the World,
— Jennifer Burden, Founder and CEO of World Moms Blog
Video credit to UNCA. Photo credit of Jennifer Burden and Ban Ki Moon and the UNCA Award Winners to Jennifer Ehidiamen, whom we met at the UNCA awards.
Photo credit of Elizabeth, Dan and Jennifer 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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by Elizabeth Atalay | Dec 15, 2015 | 2015, Asia, India, North America, UN, United Nations, World Moms Blog
Purnima,
Congratulations on your achievement! It was our honor to attend the UNCA Gala and accept this award on your behalf. We wished that you were with us, but we thought of you at home in Chennai helping your family during this time of crisis with the flooding. All of us at World Moms Blog know that our families are our first priority. You are exactly where you need to be.
We will further recap the event soon!
Thank you for the opportunity!
Love,
Jen & Elizabeth
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by CEO and Founder, Jennifer Burden and Managing Editor, Elizabeth Atalay.
Photo credits to the authors.
Elizabeth Atalay is a Digital Media Producer, Managing Editor at World Moms Network, and a Social Media Manager. She was a 2015 United Nations Foundation Social Good Fellow, and traveled to Ethiopia as an International Reporting Project New Media Fellow to report on newborn health in 2014. On her personal blog, Documama.org, she uses digital media as a new medium for her background as a documentarian. After having worked on Feature Films and Television series for FOX, NBC, MGM, Columbia Pictures, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, and Castle Rock Pictures, she studied documentary filmmaking and anthropology earning a Masters degree in Media Studies from The New School in New York. Since becoming a Digital Media Producer she has worked on social media campaigns for non-profits such as Save The Children, WaterAid, ONE.org, UNICEF, United Nations Foundation, Edesia, World Pulse, American Heart Association, and The Gates Foundation. Her writing has also been featured on ONE.org, Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter.com, EnoughProject.org, GaviAlliance.org, and Worldmomsnetwork.com. Elizabeth has traveled to 70 countries around the world, most recently to Haiti with Artisan Business Network to visit artisans in partnership with Macy’s Heart of Haiti line, which provides sustainable income to Haitian artisans. Elizabeth lives in New England with her husband and four children.
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by World Moms Blog | Nov 18, 2015 | 2015, Africa, Asia, Award, Europe, International, Middle East, North America, Oceania, Purnima, South America, World Interviews, World Moms Blog, World Voice
It is with great honor that we announce that World Moms Blog’s Senior Editor, Purnima Ramakrishnan, has been awarded an Elizabeth Neuffer Memorial prize for print and online coverage of the United Nations and UN Agencies.
Purnima is the joint winner of the Bronze award, which will be awarded at the United Nations Correspondents Association’s (UNCA) gala in New York City on December 14th, 2015 by the guest of honor, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
As an active Senior Editor for World Moms Blog since 2011, Purnima’s posts include celebrating Day of the Girl in India through murals, her response to the Peshawar attacks in 2014, and speaking out after the Nepal Earthquake this year. Previously, she has also written about unwanted girl children in India, the Brazilian health care system, and breaking the caste system in India. You can find all of her posts at World Moms Blog on Purnima Ramakrishnan’s author page.
In addition to her work at World Moms Blog, she reported on poverty issues facing Brazil in her fellowship with The International Reporting Project. In 2013 she was a BlogHer International Activist Scholarship winner and travelled to Chicago, USA to speak on her advocacy for vaccines for children in the developing world. At the BlogHer conference she launched World Moms Blog’s successful 8 month #Moms4MDGs campaign to raise awareness for poverty issues around the world. Purnima has also been featured on The Gates Foundation’s Impatient Optimists blog, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life blog, The Huffington Post and on Baby Center’s Mission Motherhood™.
“The dinner will be attended by U.N. officials, diplomats, Hollywood celebrities, corporate and cultural organizations and journalists from around the world,” according to the official award notice. We are currently (and excitedly!) coordinating arrangements with the hope that Purnima will be able to travel from India to New York City to accept this prestigious award in person.
It is also with a flood of emotions that we learned about the life of Elizabeth Neuffer, the woman for whom the UNCA award was named. Elizabeth Neuffer was The Boston Globe bureau chief at the U.N., who died in a car crash at the age of 46 while covering postwar Iraq in 2003.
An award winning journalist, she was the first to report that indicted war criminals remained in power in post-war Bosnia, where she spent a year reporting on war crimes. Early on in her career, she reported from federal court in Boston, Capitol Hill during the Clinton Administration, Moscow during the break up of the Soviet Union and the Middle East during the Gulf War. She then became European Bureau Chief from 1994-1998 in Berlin. Elizabeth also dispatched to Africa to report on the 1996 return of Hutu refugees from Zaire to their native Rwanda.
Learning about the life of Elizabeth Neuffer reminds, us, at World Moms Blog that there is so much work left unfinished when it comes to reporting on human rights and justice in the world. We will gladly carry a small spark from the large torch she lit by the example of her leading reporting. It is an honor for Purnima to receive this award as an Senior Editor for World Moms Blog. Congratulations to Purnima Ramakrishnan and the entire World Moms Blog team! We will continue to work hard to provide a voice for women around the world and speak up for those who need us most.
Thank you to the UNCA Awards Selection Committee for their selection and congratulations to all UNCA award winners!
For more on the UNCA.
References:
“Elizabeth Neuffer, 46, Reporter Overseas for the Boston Globe” and Wikipedia Elizabeth Neuffer.
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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by World Moms Blog | Oct 19, 2015 | 2015, India, Maternal Health
Purnima Ramakrishnan is a Senior Editor for World Moms Blog in Chennai, India.
As part of World Moms Blog’s collaboration with BabyCenter’s Mission Motherhood™, our World Moms are writing posts on maternal health around the world. In today’s post, Purnima Ramakrishnan of India writes,
“…I recently had a conversation with a mother who is a local domestic worker in my hometown. She travels just under an hour from her village and works, here, in Chennai. We began by chatting about our children (as all mothers love to do, right?). When I asked how many children she had, she told me that she had 3 living and also a son that had died at birth over 30 years ago. The news was a shock to me, and I asked about her story…”
Read the full post over at BabyCenter’s Mission Motherhood™!
–World Moms Blog
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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