featured, Gender Equality, Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations, Women and Girls

How the U.S. promotes gender equality around the world

UNESCO recognizes October 11 as International Day of the Girl Child to promote girls’ empowerment and human rights. Above, girls attend a class in Kolkata, India, February 11. (© Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto/Getty Images)

The United States works with international partners to advance gender equity and equality around the world.

Speaking on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Katrina Fotovat, senior official of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, said supporting women’s economic empowerment, peace and security, and addressing gender-based violence are essential to safe societies.

Social Good Moms ContributorOctober 13, 2022Leave a comment

Blog, Maternal Health, Maternal Health in the US, maternal morbidity, maternal mortality, SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals

World Health Leaders Change Targets to Reach 2030 Maternal Health Development Goal

The COVID pandemic did much to upend global health. Not only were hospitals filled to overcapacity worldwide with patients experiencing severe COVID symptoms, but entire health systems were also brought to a halt. Routine medical procedures and quality care in other areas besides COVID were preempted by the global virus. This has caused global health goals to suffer, notably decreasing preventable maternal deaths.

This month the World Health Organization along with the UNFPA created new goals in order to get back on track to reach Sustainable Development Goal 3.1 – reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100 000 live births – by 2030. Right now, the estimates are at 211 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Currently, 810 women still die per day due to complications caused by pregnancy and childbirth. While this number is a drastic improvement from a decade ago there is still much to do in order to save more mothers’ lives not only in the United States but worldwide.

Jennifer JamesOctober 26, 2021Leave a comment

Africa, Blog, Environment and Climate, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals

To Combat Climate Change Ethiopia Plants Over 350 Million Trees in 12 Hours

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. Chinese Proverb One of my favorite countries in the world is Ethiopia. I have had the pleasure of visiting four times traversing the north and south and find it gorgeous in so many regions. I cannot wait to go back one day to see all of its rapid changes. Yesterday, … Continue reading To Combat Climate Change Ethiopia Plants Over 350 Million Trees in 12 Hours

Jennifer JamesJuly 30, 2019July 30, 20191 Comment

Blog, Gender Equality, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, Women, Women and Girls, Women's Rights

Gender Equality Is Imperative to Reach Sustainable Development Goals

In 1994, governments, advocates, health organizations, women’s and youth activists gathered in Cairo for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). There, women’s reproductive health and rights took center stage in national and global development efforts. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ICPD and a renewed emphasis on reproductive health, women’s empowerment and equality will be discussed later this year in Nairobi as it pertains to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

At the recent High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Secretary General António Guterres said that there needs to be a ratcheting up of empowerment and gender equality in order to reach the 17 sustainable development goals. And, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed said, ” A recent report found that no country is on track to fully achieve Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality by 2030. And despite some important progress, we are far short of attaining the elusive “gender balance” goal in leadership established in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.

Jennifer JamesJuly 29, 2019Leave a comment

Africa, Blog, featured, social travel, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals

Maximize Traveling for Good While Minimizing Your Footprint

There is a lot of need in the world and it takes a special person who willingly gets on a plane to aid communities that can use a helping hand from added resources (monetary and otherwise) to expertise, to volunteering. While traveling for good is on the proverbial bucket list for many, more thought should go into how simply being present in indigenous communities sometimes leaves unintentional impressions, ecological footprints, as well as unfair travel practices.

Luckily, there are more NGOs, social enterprises, and businesses that are taking better tourism practices into consideration and incorporating them into their volunteering and travel opportunities. One such NGO that is doing this is United for Hope that works in India. United for Hope is an NGO with the mission to transform rural India into a place of opportunity and prosperity through a Smart Village approach.

United for Hope launched their model Smart Village in Tirmasahun, in the District of Kushinagar, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and are currently running several projects in the areas of education, social enterprises (including social tourism) and community services.

One of the latest additions to their education projects is menstrual hygiene awareness and gender sensitivity workshops, targeting both girls and boys in 100 Government Schools in the area where they operate.

Jennifer JamesMay 15, 2019April 20, 20223 Comments

Africa, Blog, kenya, solar power, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals

BioLite Brightens East Africa One Home at a Time

I have visited enough traditional family huts and homes in rural Africa to know that light and power are precious commodities. When the last bit of sun streams through the windows and doors in the evenings, the only recourse for light again is when the sun shines brightly in the morning. That is a long time to read, write, cook, and get ready for the next day by mere firelight. When not fixed on an electrical grid (which aren’t very reliable themselves), the only real, viable opportunity for light and energy is through solar power.

A newly released short film by BioLite Run Home shows how powerful their products are to light households in the absence of electricity. In fact, BioLite is on a mission to “bring energy everywhere”. In the film, BioLite features professional Kenyan marathon runner and mother Jane Kibii. Through her race earnings, Kibii has earned enough money to purchase a family home. Unfortunately, the home she built for her parents is far from the electrical grid.

Continue reading “BioLite Brightens East Africa One Home at a Time”

Social Good MomsDecember 7, 2018December 8, 2018Leave a comment

Blog, Maternal Health, newborn health, newborns, Poverty, Reproductive Health, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, Women, Women and Girls, Women's Rights

Midwives and The Right of Women to Give Birth the Way They Want

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Lydia Mwanzia, Moi University

Giving birth is a significant life event that should aim for a healthy baby and mother. There are growing calls for women to give birth in their preferred birth positions. But this requires midwives to be trained in a way that enables them to respect the choices that women make. The Conversation Africa’s health editor Joy Wanja Muraya asked Lydia Mwanzia to explain why women have the right to make choices, and the important role played by midwives.

Continue reading “Midwives and The Right of Women to Give Birth the Way They Want”

Social Good Moms ContributorFebruary 25, 2017February 25, 2017Leave a comment

Blog, Charity, Poverty, Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations

What Are the UN Global Goals?

Asghar Zaidi, University of Southampton

At the end of one of the largest summits at the United Nations headquarters in New York, government representatives from all over the world will sign a commitment to new global development goals. These will replace the millennium development goals, setting objectives for bringing peace and prosperity, and reducing the impact of climate change.

UN member states have agreed on a list of 17 broad goals and 169 more specific targets. These goals are not legally binding but they will be important. They are aimed at eradicating hunger and poverty, while at the same time promoting peace, prosperity, health and education and combating climate change.

Continue reading “What Are the UN Global Goals?”