Government & Policy

Having Self-Government During Political Drama

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The political climate is pretty hot right now! Threats, scandals, verbal attacks, social unrest, corruption, and control tactics are all part of the current political scene. People are preparing for the worst no matter what the United States election turns out like. What preparations are the most effective? Preparing your own heart to be calm and focused on truth is the best way to prepare. Having self-government during times of political drama is what principled people do to stay calm. However, to have self-government a person must plan ahead.

Lessons Learned From The Last Presidential Election

Following the election four years ago, angry rioters took to the streets destroying property and making cities unsafe. Some US cities became hotbeds of hate; much like people are fearing might happen this election.

When I was at the United Nations in March of 2017, people even protested me, blocked hallways, and threatened to burn my pamphlets without even knowing who I was or what I would talk about.  I was going to talk about stopping child abuse. This group that attacked me and my colleagues spoke right before I did about rioting and protesting. They were planning, at the United Nations, to attack an office building in New York.

I suppose I was just a person in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, I learned something. This group of very intelligent people were so easily incited to anger. The speaker got them emotional, angry, and ready to do something irrational very quickly. And, because I was the next speaker, I got to taste of their freshly planted wrath.

As a side note, the security at the United Nations didn’t stop these angry mobs from attacking us either. They seemed to either be afraid or they wanted to allow the aggressive demonstration. Here I was, a woman trying to bring awareness to the hidden abuse of children and offering some solutions, and I was unexpectedly a “threat” to their cause. The lesson I learned was that angry people attack everyone, not just the people they think they are angry at. Spreading anger is always destructive.

No matter who wins the election, can we all decide that spreading hate only hurts people, because it doesn’t help? Self-governed people find solutions, they don’t spread rage and get people worked up to hate each other. Self-government means being calm and collected. It means thinking about your actions and the principles behind those actions before taking any action at all. And, the United States was created as a self-governing nation from its inception. We need to stay true to that.

Understanding Self-Government

Self-government is a principle that goes back to the beginning of time. If only Cain would have focused on having self-government, then maybe he would have spared the life of Abel. Humans can control themselves if they choose to. And, when they choose to, they are powerful and inspiring to others.

Every successful freedom-based society that has existed, including the ancient Israelites, Rome, England, and the United States, have had the principle of self-government at their core. The idea is that the person who is self-governing can solve most of their own problems calmly and without the help of the government. When free societies are healthy, they promote self-government by not micro-managing their citizens. This doesn’t mean there aren’t laws. It just means that they put their trust in the hearts of the people to follow the laws and live by principle because their hearts are in the right place.

The more people’s hearts fail them and they get caught up in the rush of drama, anger, and entitlement, the more their desire to self-govern is weakened. A self-governed person has a heart turned toward truth and goodness, and they analyze their behaviors and outcomes to continually make plans for how to become a better, more virtuous, version of themselves.

Self-government is being able to determine the cause and effect of any given situation and possessing a knowledge of your own behaviors so that you can control them.

Skills For Success During This Election

When I teach parents how to teach their children self-government, I tell them to teach their children the Four Basic Skills for self-government. The skills are: Following Instructions, Accepting “No” Answers & Criticism, Accepting Consequences, and Disagreeing Appropriately. Each one of these skills has a skill set. For this article I’ll discuss the two skill sets that will be of the greatest help to us all as we prepare for elections results.

Accepting “No Answers & Criticism:

  1. Look at the person (or situation)
  2. Keep a calm face, voice, and body
  3. Say “okay” or disagree appropriately
  4. Drop the subject

Disagreeing Appropriately:

  1. Look at the person (or situation)
  2. Keep a calm face, voice, and body
  3. Seek to understand the other person’s point of view (really care)
  4. Explain your point of view
  5. Listen to what they have to say
  6. Say “okay”
  7. Drop the subject

If your candidate doesn’t win the election, look at the situation as if someone just told you “no, you don’t get what you wanted.” Then, keep a calm face, voice, and body, say “okay” or disagree appropriately, and finally drop the subject.

Were the rioters after the last election accepting “no” answers or disagreeing appropriately? No, but they should have. Calmness is part of disagreeing appropriately. They were not accepting a “no” answer. The historical peaceful transfer of power in free countries is based on “the given” that people can have self-government and accept change calmly.

After a calm display of disappointment or warning, disagreeing appropriately was given to the proper people, then the person was disappointed by the election outcome would have to say “okay,” accept the decision of the people, and drop the subject. The drop the subject step is often the hardest for people because they must stop feeding their emotions and turn their actions over to their logical side.

The United States, who was founded on the principle of self-government, can change the emotional and social outcome of this coming election if they keep their hearts in the right place and focus on logically assessing and controlling themselves, instead of focusing on controlling political outcomes or each other. Please learn these skills and plan to accept “no” answers and criticism with a spirit of calmness this year. If action must be taken because of corruption, etc., I hope that it will be done with calmness and principle. That is how a person properly solves problems and disagrees appropriately when they are a self-governing person.

This FREE Calm Parenting Toolkit might help you on your journey to calmness and self-government.

Ivanka Trump Speaks At The Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Event

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The United States State Department hosted a great live stream event for women on August 11, 2020. The State Department seems to have created a very productive program that they are referring to as WGDP [Women’s Global Development and Prosperity]. The program is working closely with USAID, the US foreign aid arm, to truly empower women globally. 

This well designed program focuses on how the barriers to women’s participation in the economy can be removed. The program expands entrepreneurial influence by giving skills building and training. They’re also giving leadership training so that women can better navigate their local business climates. 

The initiative is a great platform to build and strengthen women where they are while still respecting their unique cultures and environments. This cultural respect has always been important to WOW. 

Ivanka Trump, advisor to the president, talked about how they have worked diligently to form partnerships with private and business sectors to fund this initiative. They have raised millions of dollars and have helped over 12 million women better succeed economically in the first year alone. Some of the contributors to WGDP are Wal-Mart, Discover Card, WeConnect, and Microsoft Corp, as well as over 400 other contributors. 

This initiative shows that the solution to women’s empowerment and economic success and equality doesn’t need to be an issue that wars are waged on or sexual or abortion services are applied to. This initiative shows so eloquently and simply that solutions for the economic empowerment of women have nothing to do with reproductive rights or abortion, and that global battles don’t need to be fought over the issue. Instead, people around the globe with good intentions can just come together and do something about it. 

During the question section of the broadcast the head of WGDP was asked why the initiative doesn’t include “reproductive rights” and “maternal rights.” These terms both mean abortion services in legal documents. The WGDP replied perfectly stating that the initiative is designed to do the most good for the most women with the least amount of money expended, and is also designed to be a program that all people can unite behind. 

Another questioner asked why the initiative wasn’t being more publicly talked about. It was clear from the answer to the question that the WGDP isn’t an initiative about getting attention or participating in activism wars, but it is an initiative that is meant to get things done and help people. 

This approach is so wise of the State Department. How refreshing it was for me to watch this broadcast that wasn’t selling a perspective on the needs of women, but was instead saying that they have noticed the following problems, women not having the same ability to own land or start business or have internet services in certain parts of the world, and that they are doing something about it. 

WOW Africa and WOW have worked tirelessly over the years at the United Nations and in meetings with national and local officials to bring attention to the problem of inheritance rights issues in many countries, and it seems someone has heard us at last and is really doing something valuable to take steps toward actually doing something about the problem. 

This seemingly productive initiative runs counter to what WOW has seen in years past from NGOs and UN officials who claim to be for empowering women around the world but only push one agenda. Many NGOs say they want women’s empowerment, but only push abortion services and test medical gadgets and drugs on our African sisters. Many NGOs say they are going to help women in African and Asian nations earn more money and get better education, and only try to recruit women to wave their abortion or sexual rights flags for them on their home soils. 

Women have been badly used by NGOs and UN agencies with agendas to push sexual and political ideologies for far too long. It seems that the US State Department under the Trump administration has cut through the politics and agendas at last to finally just do something good for women. 

WOW has not reviewed the entire program yet, but was very impressed at the intent expressed during the latest WGDP broadcast. WOW will watch the WGDP initiative with interest in the coming months and years, and hopes it stays the course it was started upon.

EARN IT Act of 2020 Is Worth Supporting!

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South Carolina senator, Lindsey Graham, seems to be one of those brave men we love here at WOW who isn’t afraid to take a stand for protecting children. S-3398 “Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2020” or the “EARN IT Act of 2020” is being championed by her in the senate at US Capitol this summer.

Some people are critical of the EARN It Act of 2020 because they say it takes away important internet freedoms. WOW understands that perspective and has never been in favor of censoring or controlling people or taking rights away. In fact, we have vocally be in full support of all legal rights owed to citizens of the United States.

However, WOW fully acknowledges that while adults should have full internet freedoms, children should not. We know so much about the brain these days. Developmentally, children aren’t prepared to self-govern their choices fully until they are at the very least 18. Many brain experts are saying the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, that does all the logical problem solving for the person, isn’t fully developed until the person is between the ages of 18 and 26 years old now.

An undeveloped child brain is not capable of full discernment and can be too easily groomed (or led by others) to crave certain behaviors or have certain ideas. Also, chemically child brains are even more prone to addiction than adult brains. Dr. Jen Brown explains in this video.

The EARN IT Act of 2020 establishes a national commission on online child sexual exploitation prevention. This commission will, “develop recommended best practices that providers of interactive computer services may choose to implement to prevent, reduce, and respond to the online sexual exploitation of children, including the enticement, grooming, sex trafficking, and sexual abuse of children and the proliferation of online child sexual abuse material.”

This commission is a very positive move for the United States to make. So many children are sexually exploited in the Untied States through sources that are marketed as safe or are deceiving children every day like school and library databases. This act will take steps to protect some of the most vulnerable among us, the children!

The only reason WOW sees for this act not to be adopted is if adults in leadership in our country think children should be exploited, trafficked, and sexually violated by digital purveyors and businesses. We call upon all responsible citizens to reach out to their senators and representatives at the United States capitol to ask them to support the EARN IT Act of 2020. We must save the children!

Click Here to Find Your Senator’s Contact Information

UK Voted To Legalize Taking Family Members and Property

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The following act recently passed in UK legalizes the following:

  • A Justice of the Peace [henceforth JP] or other person deemed fit by the Local Authority has the power to remove a person, child or possession if they are believed to have been contaminated, had contact with a contaminated person or are at risk of contamination. There is no conclusive test available for Covid-19 because the virus itself has never been isolated. The person, once under the order of the Local Authority, no longer has their Common Law rights under Habeus Corpus. They can be detained for an indefinite period in a State facility and forced to undergo training sessions.
  • A “thing”, as it is written in the Law, can be seized, destroyed, decontaminated or retained by the State for an indefinite period. Please note the vague terminology. This could relate to a house, car, cash, pets, heirlooms, land – anything which is deemed to have been in contact with a source of contamination or suspected contamination.
  • A child can be taken into the custody of the Local Authority and forcibly removed, treated or detained.
  • It should also be noted that medical practitioners, Social Care Workers (who are not qualified Social Workers but any person who has been deemed fit by the local authority) have legal indemnity for their actions and cannot be sued or prosecuted for misdiagnosis, maltreatment or any other action as listed in the Act above.

“45 G

  • (1) a-d: A JP has the power to determine whether or not a person is, may be, has been infected, or if they pose a threat because they may have associated with an infected person. The Act does not require a medical diagnosis by a qualified medical practitioner.
  • (2) a-k: Having determined the above, the JP can compel the person to submit to medical examination, be detained in a hospital or other suitable establishment (not specified), wear protective clothing, attend “training or advice” sessions, cease work, employment or trading and answer questions regarding their whereabouts and associates. Note that the person is to be detained and not arrested, therefore they do not have their Common Law rights whilst under arrest.
  • (3) a-d: The JP may make this order if the person is contaminated, has been contaminated, may have contaminated others or may pose a threat of contamination to others.
  • (4) The person can be compelled to reveal information about themselves or a related party.
  • (6) c: A person with parental responsibility can be compelled to submit their child to any of the above and may not refuse treatment.

45 H

  • (1) a-d: As above a JP has the power to determine whether or not a person is, may be, has been infected, or if they pose a threat because they may have associated with an infected person. The Act does not require a medical diagnosis by a qualified medical practitioner.
  • (2) a-e: A JP can seize the property (written into the Law as “thing”) of any person who meets the above criteria and order that it be confiscated, removed, decontaminated or destroyed.
  • (4) a-b: They may also require that a person who has had contact with the thing answer questions regarding the identity of anyone who may have had contact with it.”

Happy International Day of Families

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In December of 1989, the UN General Assembly Declared the International Year of the Family. The declaration came as the UN’s awareness and interest in the family developed during the 1980’s, and by 1989 the inclusion of families in the developmental process had officially been initiated. In 1993, the General Assembly set aside May 15, to be observed annually as International Day of Families.

2015 was historic for the family, Worldwide Organization for Women and other organizations who advocate for families. The UN Human Rights Council adopted an unprecedented “Protection of the Family” resolution. 2020 marks the 5 year anniversary of this document. Two important statements reaffirm:

…the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and state.

...the family has the primary responsibility for the nurturing and protection

Strengthening families is at the heart of WOW’s mission and work.

The Year The UN Got Cancelled!

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The Worldwide Organization for Women [WOW] has been going to the United Nations CSW [Conference on the Status of Women] conference for many years. But this year we are meeting with the unexpected. The CSW conference, that is as predictable as the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade, has decide to cancel.  

The CSW official statement released March 2, 2020 said, “Following the UN Secretary-General’s recommendation to Member States to amend the format of the 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in light of the current concerns regarding coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an informal meeting took place today. The Commission decided that the 64th session of the Commission will convene on 9 March, at 10.00 a.m. (EST), for a procedural meeting. The meeting will include opening statements, followed by the adoption of the draft Political Declaration and action on any other draft resolutions. The session will then suspend until further notification. No general debate will take place and all side events planned by Member States and the UN system in conjunction with CSW 64 will be cancelled.”  

So, not only has this new coronavirus been able to reroute cruise ships and stop flights to certain parts of Asia, it has now stopped scheduled global conferences.  

WOW thinks it’s wise for the UN to cancel CSW this year, even though we are aware that this cancellation is a hardship for many people who were traveling from around the world to New York City to attend.  

This year was a big year for CSW because it was the 25th anniversary for the UN Beijing conference which provided a critical step forward for the protection of rights and the acknowledgement of the value of the family unit in societies.  

WOW had a great parallel event planned to remember Beijing and to point out where societies can still improve, or have missed the mark, but we will have to wait to see if this event will now happen at a future time.  

Wherever you happen to be in the world, take precautions to keep your family safe during the end of this sickness season.

The Comrade Who Rocks The Cradle…

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This piece about how British liberties are being systematically taken from families was contributed by British WOW members.

For the last few days, we in the UK have had a reprieve from the Great Brexit Betrayal, as our Parliament of Traitors has gone into recess, in order for our MPs to enjoy their party conference season: a time when politicians and their party members retire to the seaside, congratulate themselves on a job well done and scheme for the reopening of Parliament in a few weeks’ time. And, oh, hasn’t it given us some laughs? A cursory glance at Twitter will show just about anyone how hilarious it has been – how the country’s conservatives (with the notably small “c”) have chuckled at the Labour Party, in particular, and their folly. “What larks, Pip”, they giggle. “What larks!”

We have seen, for example, Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Minister, standing on a podium before her party delegates, addressing them all as “comrades” and regaling them all with tales of her youthful dalliances. With a wink and a nod reminiscent of Hattie Jacques in the old Carry On films, the venerable Ms. Thornberry told the packed room that, as she was lying with her head in a gutter following an accident, her life flashing before her eyes, she thought: “Blimey, that was fun … and it wasn’t running through fields of wheat, comrades!” The compliant BBC dutifully let the camera pan the room, showing how the audience laughed …Oooh, Matron! Saucy! All the while, conservative Twitter shook their heads and collectively smirked at her silliness. What larks!

Then there was the risible Diane Abbott, Shadow Home Secretary, butt of a thousand memes and alumnus, no doubt, of the same School of Mythical Economics as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, cheerfully informing a BBC reporter that, despite having sent her own child to a fee-paying school, she nevertheless supported the Labour Party’s proposals to “abolish” private schools and “integrate” their wealth into the State Education system…

… and it is here, I am afraid, that the laughs began to die down. Just a few short months ago, this suggestion was being floated by a handful of backbench MPs, whilst the country’s middle classes smiled and thought that such a thing could never, really, happen. Surely nobody could seriously believe that the long arm of the State would reach into the privately-owned property of independent schools and appropriate their wealth, to redistribute it as they see fit? No, certainly not. To remove parental choice from hardworking mothers and fathers who go without, in order to give their children the very best start they can afford? Never.

Yet, here we are. In Britain now, our Opposition Party openly states that it intends not only to prevent parents from choosing the best school for their child but, moreover, to repossess the finances of those schools (which are only slightly less constrained by The National Curriculum – something similar to the American Common Core) and redistribute them into State Education. Naturally, there is one, very notable exception: as pointed out by redoubtable journalist and conservative talking head, Katie Hopkins, this plan does not, of course, apply to the many taxpayer-funded Islamic schools which have sprung up across the nation in recent years. 

To each according to his needs, indeed.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-49798861

In this country, The National Curriculum “sets out the programmes of study and attainment targets for all subjects at all 4 key stages” and “all local-authority-maintained schools must teach these programmes of study.” https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum. There is no room for manoeuvre and all teachers must adhere to it. But what of its content? 

In December last year, we learned that, “in a victory for transgender rights campaigners”, a school in Brighton had begun teaching primary school children (ages four to eleven) that “boys can have periods too”. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/16/boys-can-have-periods-schoolchildren-taught-latest-victory-transgender/. 

In March, fiery stand-offs took place outside of a primary school in Birmingham, as Moslem parents removed their children from classes in protest at the “No Outsiders” sex education programme, which “they claimed promoted gay and transgender lifestyles” and told Moslem children that “Gay is OK.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/09/protests-against-lgbt-lessons-in-birmingham-primary-school-resume. 

Recently, a friend and home-schooling parent drew my attention to a Key Stage 2 reading comprehension assignment which she had discovered in the National Curriculum English handbook. Focusing on the children’s story Bill’s New Frock by Anne Fine, the tasks are designed to “make children aware of gender inequality” and ask them to “imagine waking to discover that they are a different gender.”  All very worthy, I am sure you will agree.

The same Labour Party that wishes to remove parents’ choices when it comes to independent schools has also put forward proposals to “make climate change a core part of the curriculum” addressing “the ecological and social impact of climate change.” Irrespective of the controversy that there is no conclusive scientific evidence that manmade climate change actually exists, children are, under these proposals, to be taught its effects as undisputed fact, in order to prepare them for the “human impacts” (read “immigration”, “increased governmental control” and “higher taxation”) which will inevitably ensue, turning our youth into anxious, Children of the Corn clones of the terrifyingly totalitarian  and pitifully exploited Greta Thunberg. https://www.tes.com/news/make-climate-change-core-part-curriculum-labour-says 

Even more worryingly, those who question the received wisdom of manmade climate change could soon be facing legal sanctions, as was debated on 17th September on BBC Radio 2’s daily phone-in programme, The Jeremy Vine Show. At present, of course, this is only a discussion but as my earlier examples illustrate, discussion has its way of intruding into policy … and policy has a way of becoming Law.

From Cradle to Grave

The purpose of this article, however, is not solely to discuss the tenets of The National Curriculum in depth, although I may write another on this topic at a later date. Rather, as the title suggests, its intention is to explore the ways in which the long arm of the State increasingly invades the private family lives of citizens. Which leads me to a few more suggestions which have recently come to light.

Some years ago, I visited the Museum of East Germany in Berlin and saw an exhibition of the Communist Party’s pledge concerning State governance “from the cradle to the grave.” Under the guise of promoting equality for mothers, babies were taken into State-run childcare at a few months old, in order that both parents could quickly return to work. They then stayed in government facilities until the end of their formal education, ensuring, of course, that their indoctrination could be absolute and that they would not encounter dissenting opinions which opposed those of the Communist Party. It should come as a surprise to absolutely no-one, then, that similar ideas are now being discussed in Britain, where debates are taking place regarding longer school days, increased childcare, shorter school holidays and the free provision of breakfast, lunch and dinner – all at the taxpayer’s expense and all designed to ensure that parents’ working days are uninterrupted and that their children’s daily care is provided by professionals, rather than their own loving family. Why run the risk of allowing parents to promote dissenting opinions, when the State can raise a child so much better? Similarly, the Media’s insidious drip-feeding of anti-home-schooling programmes and articles which imply that only dangerous cranks and oddballs would remove their children from the school system, just as the practice is becoming more popular, can be seen as part of the same process: “trust us”, says the State, “we know what is best for your family”. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/home-schooling-department-education-damian-hinds-radicailation-illegal-schools-offrolling-a8849841.html

“Surely this is enough?” I hear you cry. “Surely there can be no more? Surely it will suffice, at least for now, to propose the removal of parents’ school choices, to indoctrinate their children with uncorroborated pseudoscience, to propose the care of their children from morning to night and to demonise those who opt-out of the educational system?” Well, not quite – because the socialist Scottish National Party went one step further still and put forth a proposal to allocate a “named person” for every child in Scotland, to monitor family life, provide a point of contact outside of the home and to ensure that no child is being exposed to ideas or practices which dissent from the ideological aims of the Scottish Government. Mercifully, the plan has been revoked – at least for the time being – as parents argued that it amounted to nothing more than a “Snoopers’ Charter”, terrifyingly reminiscent of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eight-Four – but the proposal was made and, as we have already seen, proposals do have a tendency to wend their ways into legislation … eventually. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35752756

Be Warned

So why am I telling you all of this? Well, firstly, I am giving you a warning. 

To my American friends: we in the UK have become so accustomed to Government interference that many people now passively accept this growing encroachment upon our private lives; that which seemed impossible just a few short years ago is now being openly discussed at party political conferences and proposed as legislation. Whilst all of this may sound outlandish to you now, please bear in mind that it did once to us, too – but the gradual drip-feeding of these notions has already begun in the USA, where States like California have shoehorned the LGBT agenda into the school curriculum and proposed making ethnic studies mandatory. 

Secondly, to my fellow Britons: this has to stop. There is no end to the incursions which the State will make upon our family lives – no proposal will be too extreme, no interference too great. The long march through the institutions began many years ago – it will not cease; it knows no bounds. If we do not wrest back control of our family lives now – right now – it will be too late. As the silent majority of the country sit back and shake their heads, tittering at the folly of the likes of Abbott and Thornbury, they miss the vital point: the conservatives are losing, the Right is losing … unless we fight for our children now, we will very soon have lost. The hand is hovering over the cradle: don’t let it rule the world.

WOW Brings Cultural Revolution to the UN Civil Society Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah

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WOW has always been dedicated to strengthening families to improve life for children and future generations. This past August at the UN Civil Society conference in Salt Lake City, WOW presented a session called “Cultural Parenting Revolution for a Socially Sustainable Future”.

If our future generations don’t feel empowered enough to control themselves they will always be in bondage to their behaviors and mistakes. What issues are facing children today? We are witnessing suicide, depression, disconnection, addiction, dissatisfaction with life, poor communication skills, fractured relationships, feelings of victimhood, and being overwhelmed.

As with any social problem, children’s issues are created by multiple problems. But, one thing social science backs up is that children who have strong families have greater gains as children and adults.

This Cultural Parenting Revolution combined parenting experts Nicholeen Peck and Dr. Jennifer Jensen, who talked about intentional things parents can do to create stability and safety for their children.

This event was a great success! The room was filled and people left understanding that strong families need to be and essential part of the UN conversation on sustainable futures. Reports of excitement from multiple conference attendees that their new focus would be on strengthening families, given to WOW from other NGOs at the conference confirmed that the message WOW and Gathering Families gave about being intentional and self-governed in our family relationships really hit home.

As a side note, WOW also collaborated with NAFFA, Native American Families and Fatherhood Association, for another event dedicated to honoring women and girls. WOW focused on the programs it is doing in Africa to help women and girls sustain their families and provide for children.

WOW Spreads Happiness at the United Nations

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Mid March is when WOW and WOW Africa join in New York City with other faith and family NGO groups to stand up for women (including mothers), children, and families at the Commission on the Status of Women, CSW. 

This year WOW sponsored an event, featuring a very diverse panel of women leaders from around the world to address different ways women and girls can find happiness amidst the pressures and challenges they face during day-to-day living. 

We had a powerful panel of speakers, including a representative of Her Excellency, Dr. Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, Wife of the Executive Governor Anambra State. Founder and  Initiator  Caring Family Enhancement Initiative  CAFE  who spoke about the various programs CAFE provides for the Nigerian state Anambra. These programs empower the citizens by encouraging higher education, community service, and a higher standard of living. 

As well as our honored guest, WOW was also pleased to have WOW treasurer and UN Liason, Yvonne Averett address the formal and informal social structures societies need to promote happiness and social sustainability among their people.

Following Yvonne, Amaka Akudinobi, an attorney who practices law in California and Nigeria, a leader in the WOW Africa organization, and a mother and wife, spoke about empowering local citizens through government freedoms to strengthen their governments and families. 

 Next Nicholeen Peck, president of WOW, spoke about the roles the family and moral standards have in promoting personal freedom and happiness. She emphasized the power a person has to choose how they want to live and how they want to feel and explained the peace that comes when a person chooses to live a life dedicated to standards such as honesty and taking responsibility. A free guide was provided as a resource for attendees and the young people they serve in their various communities. 

Finally, Amy Fa’ataofe, Executive Director NAFFA, Native American Fatherhood and Family Association, spoke about the programs NAFFA provides for Native American communities around the United States. They help rehabilitate families who have been traumatized due to incarceration and trauma and give program participants an increased desire to take responsibility for their family happiness and roles in the family. 

Finally, at the end of the panel presentations the event concluded with a brief question and answer session where multiple questions were asked about how to be happy when a severe trauma, such as the death of a child, which one woman was facing, occurs. There were tears of love as panel members explained how they had made it through similar situations and how powerful it is to turn to God in such times. Another woman asked why WOW doesn’t focus on single parents in the presentation. WOW explained that we understand there are many situations that are not ideal, but that we simply didn’t have time in the one hour presentation to address all different family dynamics. Discussing the struggles single parents have is a great topic for it’s own parallel event. 

As always, there were some angry groups of people who try to oppose any family advocacy that occurs relating to events or the outcome document at the UN. At the WOW event there were a few young women who voiced their disapproval of WOW’s lack of LGBT emphasis in our program. We calmly explained that WOW is for all women and doesn’t purposefully seek out women based on their sexual choices. These same young women also felt our organization wasn’t focused enough on the youth. This was interesting to us, because a special youth group or youth leadership in an organization doesn’t necessarily make an organization wiser or better. We pointed out however, that we did have a group of WOW youth at the UN with us in our event even though they weren’t on the panel, and it seemed to take the wind out of their sails. These girls also had a hard time with a statement WOW made on a brochure about how it is proven that children are happier and show greater gains when they know both their mother and father. 

Despite this slight bit of opposition, which seemed to be an effort to look for what we didn’t have that they wanted instead of what we did have that was wrong, WOW had a very productive year at CSW. We participated in multiple events through discussion, and did a lot of networking, education, and advocacy work. And, we are already working on our CSW events and plans for next year. 

Your donations to WOW help us go to UN conferences and provide free resources for the world leaders we try to help and influence. Thank you for helping us. We couldn’t do the work we do without you. Donate how ever much you can spare here. https://worldwideorganizationforwomen.org/product/donate/

WOW! Look What We’ve Been Up To!

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Happy New Year!

Look what WOW accomplished in 2018!

2018 started out with the WOW team fighting to protect life by meeting with many legislators to help them see that babies shouldn’t be discriminated against just because they have Down’s Syndrome. We also successfully stopped an attempt by lawmakers to institute Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Utah schools. Our Utah legislative team was happy to have Kursten Mason back as the Utah Legislative liaison for the WOW organization.

The Worldwide Organization for Women is growing! This year we brought many new team members into the WOW organization. Tepoerava Ka’Aumoana, probably the happiest Tahitian woman I’ve ever met, joined us as our head of WOW communications. This was a much needed post to fill, and WOW really enjoys working with her.

We also brought on Klarrissa Newman as a WOW chapter mentor. Klarissa is expanding our chapter reach in an effort to inform and empower more women around the globe.

We have also invited Jenipher Otieno, a professor from Nairobi, Kenya, to be part of the WOW organization. She is the new head of fundraising. Not only does Jenipher teach others how to fundraise, but has been helping families in Kenya for many many years as the head of the Family Resource Center there. We are so happy to have her wisdom and experience with our team.

Early on in the year WOW found out that our website had been hacked and damaged. It was beyond repair, so we had to fund the creation of a new website yet again, this time with heightened security. It is a sign that we are doing good things when malicious people go out of their way to try to stop us from doing our work. It was just one more confirmation that the work we are doing to strengthen families and protect women and children is very needed.

At the annual Conference on the Status of Women [CSW] at the United Nations, WOW presented about the importance of protecting religious liberties for women, nurturing basic life skills in girls and women in order to be more self-sustaining, and the importance of honoring mothers.

Our president, Nicholeen Peck, was instrumental in writing the Global Declaration of Mothers that was first released at the United Nations this year. This collaborative document acknowledges and empowers mothers all over the world.

In New York, the WOW organization spoke at a rally protesting UNICEF’s acceptance of and promotion of graphic sexual education to children around the world. The fight to protect the children from industrial sexualization is an on going fight for our organization.

Our president spoke to over 20,000 parents this year about how to improve family relationships and overall peace.

The KCCB [Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops] invited Nicholeen to speak for the Humane Vitae Golden Jubilee Celebration in Nairobi, Kenya. The celebration was all about protecting lives. The conference asked Nicholeen to address improving family relationships as well. Her talk was called The Family is the Key to the Success of the Humane Vitae.

While in Kenya, Nicholeen also spoke to a grass roots group of homeschooling parents who are trying to create strong families despite the troubles they face in society. She also made a special radio appearance for the Catholic radio station in the area.

While there, Nicholeen also did a some special presentations for the members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Nairobi area. Here is an excerpt from on of her talks.

Carol Ugochukwu, the president of WOW Africa, and her daughter Amaka, continue to serve the women, girls and families of Nigeria. They have had multiple activities to teach and benefit the people there. More information about these activities is included in a separate article.

WOW participated in the Protect Child Health Coalition conference in Omaha, Nebraska this fall. And, we maintained our partnership with the World Congress of Families, a global force calling for protection of the family and family values.

WOW exposed an international database scandal to the state of Utah and got the UEN [Utah Education Network] to take action to remove the content in the EBSCO database that was inappropriate for children. Here is a link to the news story done about this scandal.

Sadly, despite the great effort of the UEN the databases were not cleaned good enough by EBSCO and the work to clean up the Utah databases at libraries and schools is still ongoing. But, WOW is working very hard to inform people and get the problem resolved in order to protect Utah children.

WOW was asked to participate at the annual NAFFA [Native American Fatherhood and Families Association] convention, in Arizona, about strengthening family relationships and improving family communications.

WOW chapter meetings are continuing to happen, while more women are showing interest in starting WOW chapters in their areas.

Finally, WOW was honored to be asked to become the lead organization for the Empowered Families Coalition this year. The coalition is dedicated to advocating for families through the legislative process and through the education of leaders and families. This position will last for one year.

We Need Your Help!

WOW does so many things each year. But, we aren’t able to all we are asked to do because we don’t have enough funds to make it happen. Each member of the WOW board personally funds the majority of projects WOW is engaged in. We love the work, but can each only give so much out of our household budgets each year.

We need you! This year, 2019, we have already been invited to speak at the United Nations again, to speak at the World Congress in Italy, and to educate families and leaders in Benin and Nigeria. We simply cannot afford all these expenses alone.

If you believe in the work WOW is doing and are grateful to the time the WOW board gives without any recompense, then please help us continue this sacred work by making a donation to this mission to protect women and children by strengthening the family and society.

Donate here.