New York-Dubai-Johannesburg
Oct20
Tag Archives: Global team Of 200
Oct5
The Social Good Summit in NYC 2013 #2030NOW
I was enraptured a couple of weeks ago as I soaked in information at the three-day Social Good Summit in NYC sponsored by Mashable, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 92Y, the United Nations Foundation, United Nations Development Program, and Ericsson . This to me is what being front row at the Super Bowl or The Oscars would be for others. The summit coincided with both the United Nations General Assembly and the Clinton Global Initiative, and so the city was abuzz with global leaders, humanitarians, media, and advocates, and the vibe was infectious.
The Social Good Summit is a three-day conference where big ideas meet new media to create innovative solutions. Held during UN Week from September 22-24, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders to discuss a big idea: the power of innovative thinking and technology to solve our greatest challenges. The most innovative technologists, influential minds and passionate activists will come together with one shared goal: to unlock the potential of new media and technology to make the world a better place, and then to translate that potential into action.- www.Mashable.com/SGS
To kick off the conference World Moms Blog founder Jennifer Burden hosted a pre-game dinner party the night before for World Moms Blog editors & contributors in from out-of-town. Wave Bars sponsored our travel into the city the next day and kindly supplied us with a treat basket including a cache of their healthful snack bars for sustenance. To make us feel fully feted the creator of Dragonfly Designs had sent over a basket of gorgeous custom wine glasses, “Eat,Drink,Blog” perfect for our evening, and to get us going the next morning for a packed conference schedule.
Bright and early Sunday morning a Wave bar served as breakfast on the train into NYC to take part in the RUN10FEED10 10K with fellow Shot@Life Champion Myrdin Thompson, and my cherished childhood friend Maria. This was my first 10k and I could not have done it without their company. I loved the idea that between Maria, Myrdin and I, we started off the morning of the Social Good Summit having donated 30 meals with the run, while providing life saving vaccines, and supporting Parkinson’s Research by using the Charity Miles app we used. All before 9am. I knew that both Gene Gurkoff, Founder of Charity Miles, and Lauren Bush Lauren, Founder of FEED projects (two people I greatly admire!) would be speaking later that week at the summit.
Each day in fact, for the following three days, many of the people whose work I admire most took the stage and elucidated us further on the impact we can all have for social good, on emerging technologies, and best practices leading the way. The speaker line-up was star-studded (for the humanitarian world) and included Melinda Gates, Richard Branson, Al Gore and Malala Yousafazai, and tackled ending poverty by 2030, food security, Global health, and how mobile technology is transforming our world. Speakers ranged from humanitarian celebrities such as will.i.am, founders of inspiring NGO’s and non-profits, representatives from UNICEF and the World Food Program to HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. The full list of speakers and their topics can be found on the Mashable site. Each panel offered hope, solutions and actions toward the universal goal of ending extreme poverty by the year 2030 (hence the hashtag), and tackling the multifactorial root causes collectively.
A couple of my favorite snapshots include the National Geographic photographer Marcus Bleasdale calling us all out for using technologies that have conflict zones minerals in them. With his photographs he documented mineral mines where lives are lost for the necessary elements found in our cell phones, iPads and cameras. He urged us all to be more conscientious consumers, and let companies know that we will not purchase products produced in an environment that is harmful to others. An important message for a room full of social media producers. Jessica O. Mathews demonstrated the soccer ball that she invented with her company Uncharted Play, Inc., that harnesses power during play. To me her brilliant design was such a hopeful example of how young people are creatively solving the challenges we face. And Sir Richard Branson pointed out that the choice between saving the planet or saving our economies is a false choice. Al Gore would later expand on that calling the climate reality the most pressing challenge to the survival of human civilization as we know it.
Jessica O. Mathews, Marcus Bleasdale, and Sir Richard Branson
As electric as the energy was inside the 92Y, some of the highlights for me occurred outside of the summit itself, such as meeting our World Moms Blog Tanzanian contributor Nancy Sumari. Attending a roundtable lunch session with ONE, the Gates Foundation, and Save the Children focused on the Syrian refugee crisis and tackling the MDG’s. Joining other bloggers at a dinner meeting with WaterAid where we heard an update on implementing running water in the Madagascar schools several of us have written about. Attending a ONE.org panel at the United Nations on Millennial Factivism, and an inspiring blogger breakfast with (RED) to discuss upcoming products that help fund the fight against AIDS. Gathering in person with so many of the amazing people that share my passion for raising awareness and striving towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals, and the true possibility of ending extreme poverty by 2030. I am still processing all of the information that came home with me, in what feels like unpacking a duffle bag stuffed with the whole world of issues. One by one I aim to pull them out, and write.
LtoR: WMB Tanzania contributor Nancy Sumari, Carolyn Miles CEO of Save the Children, Nicole Melancon of Third Eye Mom, Jennifer Barbour of Another Jennifer, the author & Phil Carroll Save the Children Media & Communications
Sep20
Me & Melinda
Melinda Gates and I have a lot in common. We are around the same age, both moms, both have Master’s Degrees, and married brilliant men. We left our regular jobs behind after having our children, and directed our energy into advocacy. We both strive towards improving poverty and global health issues, but most of all, Melinda and I are both passionate about global maternal and child health.
She recently wrote a post on the Gates Foundation blog, Impatient Optimists where she talks about how she looks forward to the UNICEF report each year. Each year it tells us how we have improved child mortality rates in what she calls “the most important statistic in the world”. I feel the same way. Seeing such progress gives me immense hope for what we are able to accomplish. Every incremental bit of improvement should be celebrated, because it brings us that much closer to the greater goals.
This year the UNICEF report is entitled Committing to Child Survival: A Promised Renewed , and it outlines what we are getting right, and what needs more focus. The celebrated fact is that the number of children dying each year has declined steadily for the past 50 years. Hundreds of thousands of lives saved, yet in some areas of the world the statistics are still alarming.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, one in every 10 children born still dies before their fifth birthday, nearly 16 times the average rate in high-income countries.-per this year’s UNICEF report
Children believe in promises more than anyone, especially when coming from an adult. UNICEF has entitled this year’s report Committing to Child Survival: A Promised Renewed to make sure we do not lose the momentum in the promises we made. While the statistics show child deaths down, they don’t tell the whole story. Newborn deaths are still high. More children die before they reach their 5th birthday than any other age range, and mostly from preventable causes.
The UNICEF Committing to Child Survival: A Promised Renewed Report is a call to action.
Call to Action Goals from the report:
- Mobilize political leadership to end preventable child deaths.
- Achieve consensus on a global roadmap highlighting innovative and proven strategies to accelerate reductions in child mortality.
- Drive sustained collective action and mutual accountability.
What can you do to help ? http://progressreport.apromiserenewed.org
To see Ethiopia’s success story in action watch this heart-warming video!
I wrote this post as part of The Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health.
Our Motto: Individually we are all-powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.
Aug27
Something To think About As We Send Our kids Back To School
Something To Think About As We Send Our Kids Back To School
As I prepare to send my kids off to school tomorrow for a new year of learning and enrichment, my feelings are a mixture of excitement, and melancholy. This promises to be a great school year for the kids, but the summer flew by too quickly. There is another sense, and I felt it as I bemoaned the cost of school supplies and new shoes for all four kids. I felt it when I mourned the end of summer fun and carefree days, and I know that is a side effect of doing the type of writing that I do. I write to raise awareness and it was a nagging awareness that had me admonishing myself for begrudging the privilege of opportunity while knowing that so many children in the world will never even have the chance to attend school this year.
The statistics are these:
-A staggering 130 million children around the world are not in school—70% are girls. (Opportunity International)
-A girl with an extra year of education can earn 20% more as an adult. (World Bank) ·
-Educated mothers are more than twice as likely to send their children to school. (UNICEF)
Despite the awareness of these numbers Education in other areas of the world is not always provided free for it’s citizens like it is here.
“Education is a pathway out of poverty and has seen the accelerator effect it has on improving lives and strengthening communities.”- Opportunity International
Opportunity International’s Education Finance Initiative, the Invest in One Child campaign
The microfinance organization Opportunity International has developed the Invest In One Child Campaign, to help tackle the issue and to ensure that all children have access to an education through the availability of their school fee loans. With the assistance of loans, parents are able to afford their children’s tuition and thus change their future. Opportunity International was founded to provide hope to the poorest of the poor through the transformational power of microfinance. Instead of just investing in the adults of a community , Opportunity Internationl is investing in the future of the community as well, it’s children. According to their studies the number one reason that families in certain countries in Africa do not send their children to school is lack of financial resources. Followed by lack of access to education facilities in rural communities and governments not being able to fund school construction, and meet demand. The Education Finance Initiative program also funds school proprietor loans, allowing educators to open quality schools in rural communities where there is need. Opportunity International is currently running education programs in Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, Dominican Republic and Rwanda.
Photo curtesy of Opportunity International, Ridgeway School
Backie Namatovu & Maria Mbabazi
By raising funds to support its education finance initiative, Opportunity International is helping to send children who would never have had the chance otherwise, to go school. Currently donations are being matched up to $35,000 dollars. It costs roughly $240 dollars to send a child to school for a year, or $1 a day, so the matched funds have the possibility to send entire communities of kids to school for the year. Imagine the positive impact that would have on their futures. It is known that education is a pathway out of poverty, and Opportunity International believes in the power of investing in one child at a time.
I also believe in the power of one, the power of one small act to inspire big changes, and one person being able to make a difference in someone else’s life. Even if that someone is across the world and we may never meet. when we act together the impact can be great. You can join the movement to provide an education to one child and give them the opportunity for a brighter future.
I wrote this post as part of The Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health.
Our Motto: Individually we are all-powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.
Jul31
Transforming Lives Through Sport: Sport In Action In Zambia
Photo Credit :Jennifer James
What if I were to tell you that the greatest soccer player ever known started off by kicking a sock filled with newspaper around the streets of Sao Paulo? Or that one of our top American basketball stars bounced around between apartments for the early part of his life while his 16 year old single mother looked for work? Both Pele and LeBron James grew up in poverty, but were able to rise above it through sports. Pele’s father had been a soccer player too, but his son brought his failed dreams of success to fruition a generation later. LeBron was sent to live with an Uncle who introduced him to football, sparking a love of athletics that would take him to the top. There are numerous stories like theirs. Getting involved in sports has the potential to turn kids lives around, and not only for those who become professional athletes. Read the rest of this entry
