Join us in New York to find out why young mothers must be counted
12.10.23
As part of the LP4Y Youth Inclusion International Forum, which will take place on 18-19 October 2023 in New York/Brooklyn, Make Mothers Matter is organizing a session entitled Make Young Mothers Count, whose main objective is to show through concrete examples, how young mothers, especially lone young mothers, are all too often excluded from society and the economy, and how their inclusion is possible and can be a trigger for positive change.
- Date&Time: 19 October 2023 – 9:30-10:45
- Place: Dumbo – 77 Sands St 10th Floor, Brooklyn/New York
→ Register here
All over the world, teenage girls or very young women give birth to children not always planned, or whose partners have shirked their responsibilities. Sometimes, their pregnancy is the result of rape… they then become young lone mothers, a status that all too often makes them outcasts in their own community and society, which holds them responsible.
In addition to stigmatisation and exclusion from society, the challenges of raising children alone, and the barriers to accessing decent work, leaves young lone mothers and their children all too often over-represented among the poorest, with dire consequences for the future of those children.
A number of MMM member associations have implemented programs and solutions to support these young mothers, which may be considered as examples of best practices and transposed to other places and/or scaled-up.
What’s more, these actions demonstrate that when those mothers are taken into account and receive adequate support, they represent an important economic force for development, that of their children and their community – a fact which is at the heart of our international advocacy work.
Program
Welcome
- Jacqueline Leduc, Main UN Representative in New York, Make Mothers Matter
Introduction
- Moderator: Farah Arabe, President & Founder, itotheN Consulting & Co-President, Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Network
Grassroots solutions implemented by MMM associate members across the world to support the inclusion of young mothers
Videos presentations and testimonials introduced by Sarah Krimi, Network Coordinator, Make Mothers Matter :
- Marie Tozer, Communications Officer, La Maison de Tom Pouce, France – offers shelter and support around birth for young mothers who are homeless and are often non-documented migrants
- Yusra Qadir, Vice President, Mothers Matter Center Canada – works with isolated and at-risk mothers, often from migrant backgrounds, by helping them gain new skills and abilities essential to strengthening mother-child relationships – Information sheet on MMC’s Hippy program
- Mahjouba Edbouche, President & Founder, Ahddane, Morocco – works with young lone mothers who are social outcasts, through emotional support, legal counselling, childcare services and mother and child shelters
- Amanda Tlotlisang Mokoena, Founding Executive Director, Glow Movement, South Africa – empowers young mothers through information and knowledge
- Lydia Anyengo, Founder and Executive Director, Passion to Share Foundation & Kokomelon Daycare/Nursery School, Kenya – Empowering young mothers in the slums of Kibera through professional training and childcare services
- Jean-Philippe Byamungu, Director, HAD/En Avant les Enfants, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – training and empowerment of young single mothers in the agricultural sector, restoring their dignity and autonomy thereby reinstating their position in the community
Amplifying young mothers’ voices at the international level: MMM advocacy work
- Jacqueline Leduc, Main UN Representative in New York, Make Mothers Matter
Q&A
- with online participation of representatives of Ahddane, HAD/EALE, La maison de Tom Pouce, Mothers Matter Center Canada, Passion to Share Foundation.
Our Objectives
- Denounce the dire situation of exclusion and poverty that too many young mothers face globally in different countries with different socio-economic, cultural and religious backgrounds, in particular when they are lone mothers
- Showcase successful solutions/actions implemented by grassroots organisations from MMM’s Network in these different contexts
- Present testimonies of young mothers who have regained their place in their community thanks to these actions
- Showcase the advocacy work MMM has been doing at the international level so that mothers of all ages and circumstances are better recognized and supported as change makers
→ Register here
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