Photos by Elizabeth Atalay (except the one I’m in, that is by Stuart Ramson)
Heading into this Mothers Day I am convinced more than ever that Motherhood is the most important job in the world. This feeling has been bolstered over the past two months of posts read and shared in the The Global Mom Relay, and then again after attending the Mom + Social Conference in NYC.
“Who better to solve this problem of maternal health than moms?”-Christy Turlington Burns of Every Mother Counts
Over the past couple of months, each day of The Global Mom Relay a post highlighted some aspect of motherhood, connecting us globally, and sharing our impact on the world in partnership with United Nations Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, BabyCenter and theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Leading the effort were Co-chairs for the Global Mom Relay Arianna Huffington, Jennifer Lopez, Lynda Lopez, Elizabeth Gore, and Sharon D’Agostino. They connected moms everywhere through this virtual relay, and the power of social media in support of the United Nation’s Every Woman Every Child Movement. The Every Woman Every Child Movement was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to improve the quality of life of women and children in line with The Millennium Development Goals to be reached by 2015.
Through daily posts by moms, experts, celebrities and advocates, the Global Mom Relay mobilized the conversation, awareness, and actions of participants to change the state of the startling statistics on women and children’s health in this world. Nearly 7 million children under the age of 5 will die from preventable diseases each year, and every two minutes a woman will die from complications due to pregnancy, unless we act together to change things.
Each time a Global Mom Relay piece was shared, a $5 donation was made by Johnson & Johnson and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to one of the four partners, the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Health(MAMA) ,Shot@Life, Girl Up , or the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.
The penultimate event of The Global Mom Relay culminated in the MOM + SOCIAL Conference in New York City held at the Tribeca campus of the 92Y, which also coincided with the launch of the annual Save the Children’s State of the World’s Mothers report .
The Mom+Social event was held in New York, May 8, 2013 as a special, one-day gathering focused on motherhood and the role of social media, technology, and philanthropy to improve the health of moms and children everywhere.- United Nations Foundation
Taking that day to attend the conference was what I had requested from my husband as an early Mother’s Day gift. Keep in mind that 24 hours away is no small feat for a mother of four kids involved in a variety of after school activities. Through my husband’s schedule adjustments, a network of friends, and neighbors stepping in, I was given my Mother’s Day wish.
“Women are powerful when we get together”- Jennifer Lopez of the Lopez Family Foundation
My takeaway from that day was that together as women we can achieve great things. No one can match the passion that we carry as mothers for the future of our children. After all, as mothers we shape the future women and men of this world, they are our daughters and sons. The line up of speakers was superb, from superstar celebrities who give back, like Jennifer Lopez, Christy Turlington Burns and Brandy, to the first lady of the United Nations Mrs. Ban Soon-Taek and Ariel Pablos-Mendez of USAID. With poets, and artists and innovators in between, discussing topics ranging from global health solutions, the emerging role of cell phones, to empowering women from the inside out. At the time of the conference the Global Mom Relay had inspired over 850,000,00 shares, with a day and a half yet to go. The power of social media as a change agent was evident, and the message of the day was that it is up to all of us to do what we can to bring attention and inspire action towards the goals for the future, and for the health of the world’s women, and children.
If you missed out on attending or watching the conference live-stream you can still view the panels and be inspired here. To continue to build on the movement and in preparation for United Nations Week in September you can still participate by sharing a photo reflecting your wish for world mothers, or reflecting the universal connection of mothers here, or by downloading the Johnson & Johnson Donate a Photo app through which you can support your charity of choice just by sharing a photo.
Infographic from the United Nations Foundation
