Cyberstreet
Contributions of Civil Society Organisations to the Well-Being of Families
Make Mothers Matter - Mouvement Mondial des Meres
Adress:
rue de l\'Universite - 75007 Paris France
Contact person:
Anne-Claire de Liedekerke
Contact e-mail:
mmmi@makemothersmatter.org
Telephone:
+331 42 88 27 28
Homepage:
www.makemothersmatter.org
Content:
1- MMM WORKSHOPS - ongoing-
MMM workshop programs seek to mobilise motherhood as a unifying force and a powerful – but largely unexploited – peace-building resource for diverse societies, based on the belief and 60 years of experience, that the universal concern of mothers - the well being and welfare of their children - transcends ethnic, religious, cultural or social divisions.
Workshop Objectives
The MMM program aims to empower mothers and develop their understanding, self-confidence and conflict-resolution skills needed:
• To better communicate and negotiate with their own children and family members;
• To become peace-building agents in their communities;
• To reduce violence in the home and on the streets; and
• To build social cohesion and integration in their neighbourhoods, towns or cities.
Workshop Approach
The MMM workshops are a program of training and education for mothers that turn their innate abilities – weaving everyday the fabric of security needed for a child to develop – into the tools to build a secure and peaceful society. The workshop experience also enables a mother to understand her own motivations and behaviour – and their consequences - and open her mind to other ways of thinking, to take control of her situation, (for some, to learn ways to counter despair and bitterness) and, therefore, have a positive influence on her children,
family and community.
The effectiveness of this program stems from the fact that it is designed and run by mothers, for mothers. It is a forum in which mothers talk to one another – frankly, in complete confidentiality, and with total respect for each other. The Facilitators themselves are mothers, who help the participants find strength and skills within themselves, raise their awareness and build their self-confidence.
The result is that the participants are better equipped to deal with the problems of bringing up children and shaping in them the attitudes and values which remain with them into adulthood. This includes more effectively preventing their children’s involvement in detrimental activities, such as substance abuse, violence in the home and on the streets, crime, and gang affiliation.
Furthermore, the negotiation and interpersonal skills learned in our Workshops are effective in problem-solving in the larger community. Therefore, the Workshops potentially have beneficial effects not only on the participants’ families but also on their neighbourhoods, towns and cities.
Workshop Details
Each workshop trains 12–15 mothers and will be led by two Facilitators. The workshop meets every other week for a total of 8–10 sessions. Each session runs about two hours, flexibly-timed to suit those who wish to attend.
The Workshops are very structured, but dynamic and inter-active – the role of the Facilitators is to draw out the strengths the mother-participants have. The participants are continually encouraged
to share and evaluate experiences and the “tricks of the trade” the participants have tried, identifying preconceptions, understanding them and discussing them.
At the end of each meeting, every member chooses one of those “tricks of the trade” to help her make the changes she’d like to see within her own family’s dynamic. She undertakes to try this technique in the time until the next meeting, when she and the group evaluate what made the technique succeed or fail.
Each session has a different thematic focus, including communication between parents and children, resolving family conflicts and managing aggressive behaviour. Guidelines, techniques and suggestions for each session are outlined in a comprehensive Workshop manual.
From each Workshop, at least one mother shows outstanding leadership qualities and will be invited to be trained as Workshop Facilitator. In this way the Program is self-sustaining, long-term and potentially can impact on a very large number of mothers in a very short time.
MMM Workshop Expertise
MMM has a long history of successful programs funded by local municipalities governments or agencies in various parts of the world. Some examples of past and current workshops:
• MMM France has over the past ten years taken many successful initiatives helping mothers combat violence and despair in various disadvantaged, disaffected suburbs. The program was so successful that the MMM was selected as one of the French Government advisors on how to combat violence in difficult areas. Please refer to the “Relay Mothers” program and “living together better agenda” information on our site.
• In England, our efforts have focused on the development of the “Make Mothers Matter” program which is inspired from the French counterpart experience.
• The MMM Advanced Research Workshop a 4-day workshop sponsored by NATO under the “Security through Science Programme” March 2004.
• Groups of Mothers Matter workshops are in preparation by MMM members in Spain, Ivory Coast, Morocco,Jordan.and more recently Rwanda.
2- EUROPEAN COMMISSION FAMILY PLATFORM (0ct 09 to Apr 11)
MMM International was one of 12 partners in the European Commission project called FAMILY PLATFORM that lasted from October 1, 2009 until April 1, 2011 initiated by the Research division of the EC. The platform’s objective was to identify topics for research on families, with the goal to produce data and scientific evidence for policy makers to use in the elaboration of new European social policies.
MMM, acting as a voice for Europe’s mothers, participated along with nine universities and two NGOs across Europe: COFACE (Confederation of Family Organizations in the European Union) and Forum delle Associazioni Familiari (italian Family NGO). The FAMILY PLATFORM was not a research project in itself: its final report served as agenda and basis for a \"roadmap 2012-2013\", by identifying key research topics and areas relevant to families which are important for national reform programs of the EU member states.
Another central objective of the FAMILY PLATFORM was to find an answer to the following question: “How can European policies and the EU member states improve the well-being of families in a long term?”
MMM was assigned the following tasks:
• Represent civil society on the Platform
• Prepare the report on the Reality of Mothers in Europe
• Coordinate with European and International institutions (COE, OECD, NATO, UN)
• Organize focus groups on Family Relationships and Well-being, Motherhood and Parenthood
• Review Substantive Reports produced by Platform Participants
• Monitor blogs and forum discussions
• Review existing literature and research
REPORT: \"Realities of Mothers in Europe\". This report was one of the assigned tasks in the Family Platform project. It is a critical review of the existing research on mothers in Europe and attempts to voice mother\'s concerns and opinions. The basis of the research report was the \"Survey of Mothers in Europe\" conducted by the European Delegation of MMM, who gathered information on the challenges, priorities and concerns mothers face across Europe regarding their and their family’s wellbeing. Over 11000 responses from mothers were collected in 17 European countries. The results of the survey was translated in seven languages ( English, French, Swedish, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch). Furthermore, a more in-depth document of 60 pages (Facts & Figures) was made available for download in English. Since one of MMM’s goal was to relay and diffuse the voice of European mothers, on May 3, 2011, the results of the survey were sent to the 750+ Members of the European !
Parliament and a press release to 10,000+ journalists in Europe and across the world. The survey database is available in SPSS, CSV, and NVIVO format for secondary research by qualified researchers.
OTHER REPORTS: Family Organisations at the Local, National, European and Global Level
– Three Case Studies
This report published by COFACE as part of the Family Platform project, profiles three case studies of civil society organisations involved in FAMILY PLATFORM and how they function: Forum Delle Associazioni Familiari (based in Rome and operating at a local and national level in Italy), Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (based in Brussels and operating at a European Union level), and MMM (based in Paris and operating at a global level).
REPORT: \"Foresight Report: Facets and Preconditions of Wellbeing of Families.\"
As part of the Family Platform project, the European Commission also commissioned a foresight report. The objective of this exercice was to establish different scenarios of family life in 2035 of which key policy and research questions are derived that have an impact on the wellbeing of families.
REPORT: Volunteering and the Family
Our last task in the Family Platform project was the coordination of the fourth and final online journal. This volume examines the relationships between families and volunteering.
3- MMM 60th anniversary,UNESCO Paris, Symposium-march \'07
\" 1000 mothers for peace\". In march 2007, MMM International organized a two day forum at the UNESCO in Paris to celebrate its 60th anniversary and entitled \" 1000 mothers for peace\" inviting over 1000 representatives of the NGO community, European and UN officials members of the press, MMM affiliates and members, mothers from all over the world, to participate in the two day program.
Presentations were organized in half days discussions around the theme of family and peace and the unique role mothers play in building a peaceful society, starting at home.
The first day was devoted to \"building peace in the family\" with themes like \" how to educate our children to a culture of peace\".
MMM members form Jordan, Argentina, France and scholars held workshops. The second day was dedicated to \" how to build peace when confronted with adversity like poverty, exclusion, violence, divorce, drugs....\" Again, many international members, scholars, social workers and professional gave advice and shared best practices to fight against difficult odds and maintain peace in the family and community. Finally, MMM concluded the panels with discussions on the assets and know how mothers have to reinforce peace and solidarity in the communities.
The forum was a great success that got the attention of the press for being the first in such event. Ms Hanifa Mezoui, director of NGO relations at the United Nations actively particpated in the event and gave a final presentation on the role of NGO\'s and MMM in particular in fostering peace around the world.