Engaging Grandmothers in Social Change

Approach

The Grandmother Movement is a global association focused on raising the profile of grandmothers as essential contributors to social change. Its main aim is to create a community of practice where scholars, practitioners, policy makers and development leaders can work together to ensure that the wisdom, insights and energy of elders, especially the grandmothers, is not just celebrated but incorporated into the policy, research and international development agendas. This is achieved through engaging the public, sharing resources, and creating bold networks.

The movement is founded on the following principles:

• Grandmothers are natural leaders and have a unique and irreplaceable part to play in the future of our world

• Recognizing grandmothers value and engaging their leadership is crucial to community resilience and development

• Grandmothers are inherently grounded in cultural identity and values and are key to the discussion of societal evolution for young people

• Grandmothers are a valuable and underutilized resource with incredible wisdom and capacity to share

• Grandmother hold together families which are the core and universal human community in the world

• Grandmothers are a resource to solving social issues worldwide

Vision

Grandmothers recognized as powerful co-leaders for positive social and environmental change, social cohesion and prosperity through intergenerational collaboration and cooperation

Mission

To develop and support a global network of institutions and individuals dedicated to the involvement of grandmothers in the policy and practice of social development programming