Rosie Scribble

New blogging rules

I was planning to write today about internet security and keeping children safe online after my recent visit to the team at Norton, but a more pressing issue has arisen as a result of my trip which involves blogging and me and one eight-year-old girl.

So I will be writing about internet safety, once I’ve digested the information I received and implemented a few parental controls, but the lasting impact of my trip to London came from meeting Katie Ledger, a former ITN news journalist and mother of two who now manages a successful portfolio career.

So impressed was I with Katie’s talk about reputation management and work/life balance that I stopped off at Waterstones on the way home and bought the book she co-authors with Barrie Hopson And what do you do?

The discussion yesterday turned to how we would envisage our perfect working week, and how that compares to the reality of our lives now. The one area I felt I needed more time was playing with IJ. We simply don’t do enough together in the week.

It occurred to me that in reality I do have enough hours in the day to play games with her after school, to take a trip to the park and to mess about in the garden. We don’t always do that because I’m often too busy faffing about on the internet, replying to emails and repeatedly checking my phone.

So I’ve laid down some new blogging rules that apply to phone usage too. The internet and my phone will be switched off after school each day until early evening. This week’s child wellbeing report from UNICEF says, amongst other things, that parents in the UK struggle to find time to be with their children.

I do have that time but I’m not managing it well. With one eye on the computer and another on my child, there are times when I am not fully there for her. She is happy; she has a stable upbringing despite the fact that it is just me. She is overwhelmed with affection, she wants for very little, but there are times when, I admit, she could see more of me.

So this is changing. Today. She’ll be a teenager before I know it and off out with her friends. She won’t need me in her life quite so much, but she does need me now. So I need to be there.

South Sudan: building a country brick by brick

This weekend the creation of South Sudan – the world’s newest country – was met with jubilation in the streets of its capital Juba, where thousands of South Sudanese celebrated their long-awaited separation from the north after decades of brutal civil war.

Yet the world’s 193rd country begins its life facing immense challenges. The Republic of South Sudan will be one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the worst places to live on earth, especially for women and children.

Decades of civil war have left South Sudan devastated, without infrastructure, with no proper government and with some of the worst health statistics in the world*:

• South Sudan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world – 102 deaths per 1000 live births
• It has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world – 2054 deaths per 100,000 live births
• A woman in South Sudan has a one in six chance of dying during the course of her lifetime from complications during pregnancy or delivery
• A 15 year-old girl has more chance of dying in childbirth than completing school.

Thousands of South Sudanese, who fled during the height of the conflict, are now returning to their homeland with hope of a better future. Yet this sudden influx is crippling the already fragile infrastructure and placing a huge strain on resources which are already severely limited.

Despite the 2005 peace agreement, which helped secure South Sudan’s independence, the region still remains vulnerable to regular and devastating attacks from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who are destroying villages and abducting children on a weekly basis. Boys as young as nine are being recruited as servants. By the time they reach 11 they are armed with guns and working as child soldiers, many of whom are instructed to kill members of their own family. Girls are abducted and used as sex slaves.

On the eve of South Sudan’s independence I met Martin Bell, an ambassador for UNICEF, who travelled to South Sudan in March to investigate the current state of the region.  He remained hopeful for a country he acknowledged faced a difficult journey ahead. “A new country has to be a moment of hope,” he said. “South Sudan is the victim of a long war, and war stops development. This country needs intensive care and it needs our help.”

Despite the obvious challenges South Sudan faces, there is real hope that this country can develop and thrive. “Every penny donated will make a difference to this country,” Bell said. “We are building it brick by brick.”

Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, states that: “ … children who have known only war now have a chance to know peace.  We must not fail them.”

Children of South Sudan urgently need our help now. To support UNICEF’s child survival projects in South Sudan text ‘SUDAN’ to 70007 or go to www.unicef.org.uk/southsudanappeal

* Source: UNICEF

Help save 1000 mums' lives this Mother's Day

 
UNICEF ambassadors Ewan McGregor and Cat Deeley have launched UNICEF UK’s campaign to help save the lives of 1,000 Mums. They are calling on people across the UK to make a difference to the lives of 1,000 mums, by buying their mum a UNICEF ‘Deliver a Baby’ gift pack as their Mothers Day gift.

The aim is to sell 1,000 life-saving packs by Sunday, to highlight the number of women who will die on that day, and everyday, due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth.

Although great progress has been made in reducing maternal mortality, childbirth  remains one of the leading causes of death amongst women in the developing world. Due to a lack of access to basic medical care and support, often stemming from poverty, nearly 1,000 mums die each and everyday as a result of pregnancy related complications.

I am one of the bloggers involved in this campaign. To help publicise these figures, we are focusing on six of the countries around the world with the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. I am looking at Afghanistan.

Spotlight on Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a landlocked and mountainous country in south-central Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east and Iran in the west. Since the late 1970s, Afghanistan has experienced a continuous state of war. The country is currently being rebuilt slowly with support from the international community while dealing with the Taliban insurgency and political problems.

It has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the world, with 1 in every 11 women at risk of dying during pregnancy or child birth.

Limited access to health facilities has been a major obstacle for women in the region and the cost of public transportation, the risks of travelling while pregnant and the prevailing security situation all discourage women from seeking proper prenatal care, leaving them extremely vulnerable if they develop complications during their pregnancy or birth. 

We can help save lives

We can help save lives by buying a UNICEF inspired 'Deliver a Baby' pack. Priced at £23, each pack contains all the equipment necessary for the safe delivery of one baby, including medicines and delivery, sterilisation and resuscitation equipment.

Each UNICEF Inspired Gift purchase comes complete with an exclusive Gift Card, which can be personalised and delivered to your choice of UK postal address. Your 'Deliver a Baby' pack will be delivered directly to a vulnerable mother and her baby across the world. 

Please buy one today by visiting the UNICEF shop.

We can help save lives this Mother’s Day.

This is not a sponsored post. I am a supporter of  UNICEF.

UNICEF launch Libya Crisis Children's Appeal

Posted on behalf of UNICEF UK:

UNICEF, the world's leading children’s organisation, has assembled teams of experts to fly into Tunisia and Egypt and another on standby for Libya as the agency today launches the Libya Crisis Children's Appeal for £4.5 million (US$7.2 million) to meet humanitarian needs of women and children in all three countries over the coming months.

‘We are expecting the number of refugees to climb into the hundreds of thousands if the unrest continues. We are very concerned for children and their families and are launching the Libya Crisis Children’s Appeal for £4.5 million to help them,’ says David Bull, Executive Director of UNICEF UK in London.

‘Critical facilities such as clinics and hospitals are not open for a variety of reasons, food supply routes have been disrupted and Libyan children and their families are facing a potential humanitarian crisis’.

Up to 100,000 people have so far fled unrest in Libya.

Immediate concerns for children include child protection, water, sanitation and hygiene, and health and nutrition.

In Tunisia, the immediate priority will be to provide water, sanitation and hygiene services to the people who have already crossed the border.

In Tunisia and Egypt, UNICEF’s child protection work includes psychosocial support and family tracing and reunification efforts in anticipation of increasing numbers of unaccompanied or separated children.

As soon as the security situation in Libya allows UNICEF will deploy a core response team whose initial focus will be around child protection and psychosocial support, water, sanitation, hygiene nutrition and emergency health care.

Donations to the UNICEF Libya Crisis Children's Appeal can be made by telephoning 0800 037 9797 or via UNICEF's website www.unicef.org.uk.

A handwash that helps save lives

A handwash that can help save lives goes on sale today.

The Co-operative Pharmacy is continuing its work with UNICEF and launching an antibacterial handwash that not only helps keep hands soft, clean and free from harmful bacteria, but that helps raise money to improve sanitation in Togo, one of the poorest countries in Africa.

For each marked pack of antibacterial handwash sold at The Co-operative Pharmacy, a donation of 15 pence will be made to UNICEF, helping to fund sanitation projects in Togo.

In the developing world poor sanitation leads to diseases including cholera, dysentery and diarrhoea, which kill 4,000 children each day*. Improving sanitation is an essential way to prevent children dying from these preventable diseases.

The handwash will be on sale more than 600 branches of The Co-operative Pharmacy and is priced at 80p. The money donated will support the crucial work that The Co-operative Pharmacy and UNICEF are already doing through a community development project in Togo as part of The Co-operative Pharmacy’s ethical strategy** – a commitment to responsible retailing, combating climate change and to caring for communities.   The project will provide 7,800 latrines, reaching 195,000 people in 390 villages.

I haven’t tried the handwash but I think it’s a great idea and I’m happy to promote it here.

*Source: UNICEF
**Source: The Co-operative’s ethical strategy