In October, CSMC’s CEO Jenny Davidson joined representatives from 11 single parent organisations across eight countries in León Spain for the first Global Symposium of Single Parent Families.
The gathering was made possible by the Isadora Duncan Single-Parent Families Foundation, the first national association formed by single mothers for single mothers in Spain.
León, a beautiful city in Spain’s northwest, was the perfect location for this historical event as it’s known as the Cradle of Parliamentarism for hosting an assembly convened by the king in 1188, the first to include elected representatives of the common people alongside clergy and nobility.
The symposium had a packed agenda focused on networking and building collective understanding of the legal and social situations of sole parent families in the countries represented, and the history, work and challenges facing each organisation. CSMC was the oldest single mother-led organisation at the gathering. Jenny soaked up the shared experiences and learnings from other organisations along with the opportunity to use her Spanish.
The value of coming together was significant, with the leaders and founders of the organisations comparing the status of single parents, in particular single mothers, under different political systems and cultural and religious contexts, and the progress that each organisation has been able to secure.
Commonalities across cultures and national contexts were clear and included financial hardship and gender inequity, lack of status and respect, and in some contexts, acute disadvantage and marginalisation.
There were four of language spoken at the symposium, but with a little help from Google translate, everyone was able to be heard and understood!
The symposium concluded by establishing an informal global network of single parent organisations and releasing an International Manifesto for Equality for Single Parent Families agreed by the attending organisations.
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