Dear members,
It’s hard to believe it is the last month of the calendar year, but here it is! Many of us are preparing to celebrate the holidays with our near and dear ones. Some of us are traveling of course, to be closer to loved ones. We hope the cheerful spirit of the holidays will bring in a great 2022 for our community, our families and the world in general.
WBGFN is all about supporting each other. We think we embodied this spirit when we launched a peer support group for those who have gone through a loss of pregnancy or a neo-natal loss. We believe this group can be helpful for those who have known such trauma – sometimes all you need to heal is to connect. The group is open to all WBG staff and partners who have experienced a loss at any stage during pregnancy or surrogacy. Please do reach out to our office via email if you have been through such a loss and would want to join.
We also hosted a two-part series, aptly entitled “Holding the Fort Abroad”, on solo parenting and managing challenges when your partner is abroad. We were happy to know that that the series was very helpful for many of our members, who face this scenario of having to ‘hold the fort’.
In November, the Family Network leadership had three key meetings: we met with the leadership of our sister family networks (IMF Family Association and IDB Family association), the Chair of the World Bank Group’s Staff Association, and the VP of the World Bank Group HR. We had fruitful discussions, regarding key issues that concern our members, such as, more areas of cooperation (particularly with sister organizations and Staff Associations), visa renewals, employment authorizations and other issues affecting WBG families. We will keep you updated on further developments regarding these interactions.
Once again, we would like to wish you cheerful celebrations, and restful togetherness during the holidays and a very Happy New Year!
Warm regards,
Sara and Ashik