VIDEO & PHOTOS: World Moms Blog at the 2015 @UNCANews Awards!

VIDEO & PHOTOS: World Moms Blog at the 2015 @UNCANews Awards!

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!

Jennifer Burden and Ban Ki Moon 2015UNCA 600

After shaking hands, we had the opportunity for a mini photo session with the UN Secretary General.

 

Jennifer Burden and Ban Ki Moon 2015UNCA 2 600

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!

Elizabeth Dan and Jen UNCA 2015

Meeting and talking with fellow UNCA award winners was also a highlight of the night!

UNCA Award Winners with Ban Ki Moon 2015 600

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

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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NIGERIA: Another Christmas in Captivity for #ChibokGirls, World Forgets

NIGERIA: Another Christmas in Captivity for #ChibokGirls, World Forgets

Bring Back Our Girls Now

Time 100 Woman of the Year, Oby Obiageli (Oby) Kathryn Ezekwesili, looks and remembers the #ChibokGirls on Christmas Day.

Chibok Girls Remain in Captivity

Hmmmmm…today is Christmas, as I write this, and for many all over the world it’s time for félicitation, a time for merriment and sharing. But for our Chibok girls and their families, it’s time to wail and cry silently, while putting up a brave face for the whole world.

Freedom of worship is what a lot of us take for granted. A confirmed right, but for our #ChibokGirls, alas, it is not so. Most of them we heard have been converted to Islam. Islam doesn’t need forced converts. There is no compulsion in religion says God in Qur’an Chapter 2 verse 256.

Why, then, would someone take girls, who, even in the rules of war islamically, are never to be attacked? And forcefully convert them to Islam?

 

World Mom, Aisha Yesufu, speaks as activists gather in Abuja continuing to demand the rescue of the 219 Chibok Girls captured in April 2013 in Nigeria.

World Mom, Aisha Yesufu, speaks as activists gather in Abuja continuing to demand the rescue of the 219 Chibok Girls captured in April 2013 in Nigeria.

While others enjoy Christmas, our Chibok girls are weeping silently in their hearts. They probably do not even know that today is Christmas. That would be the worst.

For 620 days our Chibok girls have been in captivity. Mocked by their captors that no one would come, and, indeed, no one did.

Our Chibok girls have had to spend another Christmas in captivity, while the world moved on and forgets that 620 days ago the lives of 219 Chibok girls were frozen in a nightmare they never envisioned. They were captured by Boko Haram when they set out to get an education. Young, educated girls, whose empowered voice the terrorists found threatening.

For daring to have a mind of their own by getting an education, they have been put in bondage for 620 days.

How are Chibok parents faring during this day of festivities knowing that their precious daughters are with monsters who have no drop of humanity in them?

Nigerian Community For BBOGN

How do they cope thinking of all the atrocities their daughters have had to endure this past 620 days? Ahhhhh…they must die a thousand deaths everyday imagining what their daughters have had to go through.

While many in the world are waking up today after celebrating Christmas with their family and friends, please remember the 219 #ChibokGirls who spent their second Christmas away from their loved ones and in captivity.

Please remember #ChibokParents who have had to celebrate a second Christmas without their daughters and struggle to put on a brave face for the other children. All so that the terrorists would not steal the joy of the season from their children the way in which they stole their daughters.

#BringBackOurGirls NOW & ALIVE

This is an original post to World Moms Blog by World Mom, Aisha Yesufu in Nigeria. 

Photo credits to the author.

#WorldMoms: Christmas Trees Around the World….

#WorldMoms: Christmas Trees Around the World….

Today on Facebook, we are sharing our contributors’ Christmas trees around the world!

Check out this tree from World Mom, Tara Wambugu in Kenya:

Christmas Tree in Kenya

 

Follow our World Moms Blog Facebook Page for an inside look into our World Moms’ homes and visit our Christmas trees around the world!

Have a tree to share? We’d love to see it!  Have a menorah or other holiday décor to share? Yes, please! Post it in the comments in our World Moms Blog Facebook page!

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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World Mom, Elizabeth Atalay, is on @BabyCenter Today!

World Mom, Elizabeth Atalay, is on @BabyCenter Today!

Elizabeth Atalay Head Shot

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, Elizabeth Atalay in the USA writes about “Kangaroo Care”, a process of keeping newborn babies close to the mother. Kangaroo Care has been proven to prevent newborn deaths and aid in the development of preterm babies.

“Power cuts are a frequent occurrence in Ethiopia, as they are in many developing countries, and the lack of reliable power impacts health and development in many ways. To a premature baby clinging to life in an incubator, it could be deadly. In the past nearly ¼ of the babies would not survive in the NICU at the Black Lion Hospital due to complications from preterm birth, lack of resources and manpower. The American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines suggest a minimum of one Registered Nurse for every one to two patients in intensive neonatal care; at Black Lion there was one nurse for 10 or more newborns.”

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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2015 Marked World Moms Blog’s 5 Year Anniversary

2015 Marked World Moms Blog’s 5 Year Anniversary

 

World Moms 2015

In 2010 World Moms Blog launched from 3 countries. Today, we write from over 30 and have over 70 contributors. In five years there has been awards from the UN Correspondents Association for “Best Reporting on the UN” to Forbes Woman for “Best 100 Website for Women.” Our mothers have gone on reporting and/or speaking fellowships with the International Reporting Project, the UN Foundation and BlogHer.

World Moms Blog has sponsored a panel at the World Bank on the right to a universal education for all. The New York Times Motherlode and the Times of India has recommended our site to their readers. World Moms have been thanked in person by the UN Secretary General, invited to the White House, and have had conversations with royalty and global leaders on a variety of issues such as eradicating poverty, the Syrian refugee crisis, AIDS, the importance of study aboard and more.

We attribute the success of the site to having to solve a problem very early on: Who was going to run the blog while our founder was going to have her second baby?

At that point Jennifer Burden, our founder and CEO, had to become quickly comfortable with handing over responsibility. Kyla P’an, Purnima Ramakrishnan, Kirsten Doyle and Eva Fannon all volunteered to help out in February 2011.  And guess what? They are ALL STILL editing for World Moms Blog! Add on our current managing editor, Elizabeth Atalay; social media manager, Sarah Hughes; and relationships manager, Cindy Levin, and we are rocking it! Not to mention our awesome social media team: Nicole Morgan, Karyn Wills, Nicole Melancon and Amy Pohl!

These women have been the backbone of World Moms Blog, and without them, who knows where we’d be! The site has certainly been a group effort from very early on and the World Moms have been part of the decision making behind the blog.

In commemoration of 5 years of World Moms Blog, we’ve asked our contributors about their favorite moments of being a part of World Moms Blog. Here’s what they’ve had to say:

Maureen Hitipeuw of Indonesia: 

“Definitely meeting Ruth Wong (Singapore) and Susan Koh (Singapore) last June. It was chaotic at first with me getting lost in their huge airport, and then we had so much fun.”

World Moms Singapore Airport 2015

World Moms, Ruth Wong of Singapore, Maureen Hitipeuw of Indonesia and Susan Koh of Singapore are all together for the first time at the Singapore airport in 2015. Maureen had a layover and called on her fellow World Moms!

Tara B. of the USA: 

I love having Karyn Wills (New Zealand) as a FB friend on the opposite side of the globe. I love her winter posts during my summer, and her warm sunny summer posts brighten up my dark PacNW winter. Plus every evening when I check my social media before bed, she is posting to start her day. It reminds me of the great big world chugging along out there. Plus Karyn is funny as all get out.”

Meredith of the USA: 

“I love reading the comments when I have a post run. It makes me feel like I am not alone in what I am feeling as a mother.”

Martine deLuna of the Philippines: 

“Definitely one of the best parts was meeting Ruth Wong in Singapore two years ago!”

WMB Singapore Philippines 600

World Moms, Martine deLuna of the Philippines and Ruth Wong of Singapore, meet for the first time in 2013!

 

Sarah Hughes of the USA: 

“The day I met Jennifer Burden at her house to drop off hats after Hurricane Sandy!!! xo”

Jen Burden and Sarah Hughes Hurricane Sandy

World Moms, Jennifer Burden and Sarah Hughes, distribute hats for victims of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Michelle Pannell of the UK: 

“My highlight was my introduction to WMB & that was meeting Jennifer Burden and Cynthia Changyit Levin at the first night of the #AYAsummit, which was the social. As the only Brit in the room, I didn’t really know anyone, but you ladies embraced me and made me feel welcome and a part. That night encapsulates all of what WMB is about. Mums/moms coming together, sharing, laughing, being real, sharing their hearts for a broken world and extending a hand in friendship/ kindness. I actually feel quite teary now! Sincerely thank you. x”

Nicole Morgan of the USA: 

“I am so blessed to know many of the WMB moms in real life … and they count amongst my very best friends. I clearly remember meeting our fearless leader in San Diego so many years back, and am so grateful for our friendship. We have shared late night conversations, countless meals, and even a bed at a conference since. With this amazing group, I have attended multiple events, supported dozens of causes … had so much fun with our #posseofpossibilities … we have even had a slumber party in Jenn’s basement! These girls are my rock .. and for those in far flung places … who check on me and share love from afar .. yes Karyn Wills (New Zealand), Purnima Ramakrishnan (India) and Maureen Hitipeuw (Indonesia)… the love is endless.

World Moms ONE Strengthie

World Moms at a ONE event in NYC in September 2015 pose for a “Strengthie” with Neha Misra of Solar Sisters.

 

Frelle of the USA: 

“Meeting so many at BlogHer12!”

World Moms at the BlogHer conference in NYC in 2012.

World Moms at the BlogHer conference in NYC in 2012.

 

K10K of Belgium: 

“Meeting Mirjam Rose (Netherlands), Olga Mecking (Netherlands), Tinne De Beckker (Belgium) and Jennifer Burden (USA) in Antwerp, Belgium!”

World Moms met for an afternoon in Antwerp Belgium in 2014! Olga Mecking of the Netherlands, Mirjam of the Netherlands, Jennifer Burden of the USA, K10K of Belgium and Tinne of Belgium.

World Moms met for an afternoon in Antwerp Belgium in 2014! Olga Mecking of the Netherlands, Mirjam of the Netherlands, Jennifer Burden of the USA, K10K of Belgium and Tinne of Belgium.

Julie Dutra of Portugal: 

“Meeting Martine De Luna (The Philippines) on Skype and getting my blog revamped with her help!

Kyla P’an of the USA: 

“A highlight for me was stepping in as interim editor in chief just a few months after WMB started because  Jennifer Burden needed to take a little “maternity leave” after having Jess. Nothing gives you insight to the crazy mechanics of an organization like running it. I love our network of mothers around the globe. Forget the sentiment that it takes a village to raise children, for me, it takes a World.”

World Moms Dee Kyla Jen and Nicole Melancon

World Moms meet in Washington, DC in 2012! Dee Harlow, Kyla P’an, Jennifer Burden and Nicole Melancon.

Karyn Wills of New Zealand: 

“All of what everyone else said about the friendships and getting to know people from other places but unexpected consequence of that is having contact with people actually living stories we hear of (or don’t hear of) in the media from a local perspective. From attacks in Israel to the every day effect of the fires in Thailand on countries close by, and everything in between, I feel like I have a far greater understanding of what’s going on thanks to the friendships I’ve made here.”

Ruth Wong of Singapore: 

“I agree that the friendships forged here have been such a blessing, and it’s amazing to have friends all around the world through WMB. I dream that one day, we’ll all get to meet in person!”

 

Aisha Yesufu of Nigeria: 

“When darkness falls in the middle of the day, when at the precipice of depression, when one loses all hope in humanity, a single word, smile, hug sent across continents from a World Mom just sets the world right for me. This community also gives the voiceless one the voice to be heard by many across the world.

‘Indeed we are good people.’ That’s the message I get from my World Moms Blog family. Thank you for bringing me in touch with humanity.”

Jennifer Burden of the USA: 

No doubt, meeting my fellow World Moms is so meaningful — on Skype, on the phone and in person! This community of women has meant so much to me. Behind every strong woman is a community of strong women! I look forward to finding ways in which we can make more of these offline meetings happen in 2016!

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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OMAN: Raising Children As Global Citizens

OMAN: Raising Children As Global Citizens

Is it possible to raise children to be global citizens in a conservative society?

Is it possible to bring the ideas of globalization in a culture that might reject anything new?

Is it possible to raise children as global citizens, yet respect their own culture?

These are the questions that we as parents, caregivers or educators should be aware of, when raising/educating children in the current global world. For me, as a mother of three children in a conservative society, I believe it is not only possible but a necessity.

Extremism in any culture, I think, is partly a result of isolating a society from the world to the extend it rejects and fights anything that differs from them regardless of the reasons.

Therefore, some effort is needed. Our children are not only influenced by us as parents. They are influenced by all the other constituents of the society they evolve in especially.

As parents, we may start with ourselves. We may be culturally-sensitive, non-judgmental and educated to the differences around us.  We may be very careful to what we say in front of children when they ask questions related to different cultures and ethnicity. We, ourselves, can be judgmental unfortunately sometimes towards a specific culture and may be careful with any words we utter in the presence of our children.

The other thing that I believe is crucial are resources. Books, television, internet programs,  and after-school activities could be diverse. We are lucky to have diverse and a rich market that allows us to learn everything about anything. Travelling allows us more exposure to different cultures and learning opportunities.

I think that learning English (or any other language) at a young age provides more contact to different “diverse” materials. We do have more diverse materials in English than , say, in Arabic.

Charity works wonders in an interesting way too. You may involve your children in a charitable action into giving to others who are in another country or culture. This provides a learning opportunity, empathy towards others and a responsible child who believes he/she can make a change.

Preparing children to be global citizens is a must at the present. We will not be present at every step they take in their lives, but at least prepare them to manage better in a fast growing world.

What are your ideas to raise a global citizen?

This is an original post from our #WorldMom, Ibtisam from Oman for World Moms Blog.

Picture Credit to the author.

You can find more of her wonderful perspective on her blog: ibtisammusings.com.

Ibtisam Alwardi

Ibtisam (at Ibtisam's musings) is an Omani Mom of three, living in the capital city of Oman ,Muscat. After working for ten years as a speech and language therapist in a public hospital, she finally had the courage to resign and start her own business. She had a dream of owning a place where she can integrate fun, play and 'books', thus the iPlay Smart centre (@iplaysmart) was born. Currently she is focusing on raising awareness through social media about parenting, childhood, language acquisition. She started raising awareness on (the importance of reading) and (sexual harassment) targeting school-aged children. Ibtisam enjoys writing, both in Arabic and English, reading and working closely with children. She plans to write children books (in Arabic) one day. Contact Ibtisam at ibtisamblogging(at)gmail.com.

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