MMM team leaders on the ground with our grass roots organisations

Valérie in Nepal

Our UN team leader Valerie Bichelmeier on her recent visit to Nepal met up with the Executive Director of Child Nepal Mohan Dangal and his team in Kathmandu.

The organisation’s work on Child Rights and empowering mothers is exemplary.

Mohan tells us: “In Nepal, we are advocating for the ratification of the third protocol of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child”. This protocol allows children to file complaints with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) if they believe their rights have been violated.

Mohan adds: “Our mission s to initiate a child friendly culture in Nepal. It is a very big mission, and a big objective for us. It is impossible to initiate a child friendly culture without mothers being empowered.”

Johanna in Spain

Our EU Advocacy team leader, Johanna Schima, supported the work of our member Fundacion Isadora Duncan by attending their 40th anniversary celebrations in León, Spain.

Founded in 1984, by five courageous single mothers, the foundation has been developing initiatives to actively enhance the quality of life for single-parent families, promoting genuine equality with other family types.

Their goals include societal recognition for single mothers as single-parent families, ensuring their economic empowerment through initiatives such as microcredit, support to improve employment opportunities, access to comprehensive health protection, particularly around childbirth and elimination of gender-based and economic violence.

The Founder Maria García tells us: “Our journey has been one of challenges but also of achievements, such as obtaining the single-parent family card in León, legislative changes, and winning cases in the courts. Our work is not over. In Spain, 53.6% of single-parent families are still at risk of poverty. We continue our efforts, convinced that real change begins with providing mothers access to education and culture.”

Brigitte in Côte d’Ivoire

Our UNESCO advocacy team leader Brigitte Marais has been busy on the African continent travelling to Ivory Coast to support the celebration of the International Day of the Girl child, organised for the second time in the country by Jean Bolly, president of our member association AJAD, who leads the group VDF (Voix Des Filles – voices of girls) Côte d’Ivoire.

At the ceremony, held at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for peace research, nearly 400 people heard testimonies illustrating the daily challenges faced by young girls, underlining the importance of their education.

Brigitte also took part in a graduation ceremony for 30 girls from the AJAD training centre. Thanks to this training, these young girls can look forward to an independent and stable future.

Brigitte sums up her visit by saying: “Through its education initiatives, AJAD aims to change mentalities in Côte d’Ivoire. It works tirelessly to raise awareness about forced marriages and early pregnancies, which continue to hinder young girls’ access to education. A young girl who has no access to education, who cannot read, write or count, will never be autonomous and independent in her future life as a woman and mother.“

The mission of our grass roots members for mothers is our mission. Be it health, peace or education. We support them in their field work because, together with our advocacy actions for women who are mothers and girls who are tomorrow’s mothers, we can pave the way for a more sustainable future.