Pram Pushing Publicity Event for Family Urban Social Issues
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: May 15, 2006
WUNRN
Via Huairou
Commission
MOTHERS’
PRAM PUSHING SUCCESSFUL PUBLICITY EVENT
FOR
FAMILY URBAN SOCIAL ISSUES – EUROPE
„Pram
Pushing“ is a
publicity event created by the Union of Slovak Mother Centers who set a first
Guinness Record on Mothers Day in 2004 as a way to raise awareness for the needs
of parents and children in urban environments. The event was repeated in
in 2005, when 108 prams were pushed inside one hour on a one mile stretch. The
public success and great family fun generated by this action inspired Mother
Centers in other countries and this year the Mother Center International Network
mine and their national and regional
network members upscaled the event to an international level involving 18
locations and 7 countries inside their network.
One
day before Mother’s Day, on
13th
2006
from 16 – 17 h grassroots women and their families across
came out to “Move the pram and move the world”. 2 120 prams were pushed simultaneously
inside one hour on a one mile walk by Mother Center participants from Austria,
Bosnia, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy,
Slovakia, and The Netherlands, celebrating the growing movement of Mother
Centers and the growing self confidence of mothers to the right to family
friendly cities. With this turnout mine broke the record formerly held by
the Union of Slovak Mother Centers.
The
pram pushers were supported by many more who joined them for this event to claim
public space for families. In Zavidovici for instance, a small provincial town
in Bosnia, the 34 participants of the local Mother Center “Plamen”, who pushed
the pram around the 1 mile stretch leading to their newly acquired Mother Center
premises, were joined by 300 participants from Zavidovici as well as all the way
from the capital city Sarajevo in this demonstration of civic activity, still a
very rare phenomenon in post war Bosnia.
The
Stuttgart organiser Muetterforum Baden Wuerttemberg complimented the 131
participants pushing prams with children with prams not containing children but
life size posters stating some of the reasons why many prams stay empty in
current society: the lack of compatibility of work and family, the isolation of
mothers, the poverty risk of single parents, the lack of welcoming structures in
public life for children and families.
The
greatest turnout to Move the pram, move the world was in
the country where the idea originated, contributing with over one thousand
participants to half of the record making count. They were joined by their
Minister for Social Matters, Family and Work, who pushed a pram in front row in
the historical city center at the
mile walk.
The
Mother Center Guinness Record event received a lot of publicity, with both local
and national media, newspapers, radio programs as well as the regional and
national news on TV covering the events in all the 7 countries
involved.
Contacts:
International
Pram Pushing Campaign Coordinator:
of Slovak Mother Centers Elena Bakosova,
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Categories: Releases