Svenska med babys
vision och uppdrag
"All children should grow up in a safe and caring environment, where parents and families are included in an open and equal society."
Since Svenska med baby started in 2012, we have worked with the same goal and purpose. We do this mainly through meetings where families with young children, both those who are new to Sweden and those who have lived here for a long time or all their lives, gather to talk, play and learn from each other. Of course, the meetings provide so much more than that: they also provide, for example, parental support, language training, expanded networks, shared memories with their child, community and increased health. All while having fun!
Another part of our work is advocacy. We influence our society to become more open, equal and inclusive also through, for example, debate articles and seminars.
Svenska med baby has no political or religious affiliation. In other words, the organization is not linked to a political party or a religious community. We are also not for profit, we use the money we receive to develop our activities.
Our impact objectives:
- Social networks
- Language development in Swedish
- Security in parenting
- Employment after parental leave
- Well-being
History of the Svenska med baby over the years
Svenska med baby was started in 2012 by two women on parental leave in Stockholm, Karin Bruce and Ylva Strander. They missed meetings with mothers and fathers on parental leave with a different background than themselves and decided to do something about it. For the first year, they ran the organization entirely on a voluntary basis, until they received funding from the Ideas for Life Foundation.
Since then, the organization has grown and evolved, but the basic idea remains: for parents with different backgrounds to meet with their children, have fun and learn from each other. Now Svenska med baby has become a national organization that is present in many different places in Sweden. Exactly where we have meetings varies from semester to semester, but you can go to the activity calendar to see all the meetings we have.
In 2021, the Dads' Meetings started, to try to get more fathers to come with their children. "Do you have special meetings for moms too?" someone asks from time to time. No, we don't. Most of our meetings are attended by mothers, so our focus on fathers' meetings is to get more fathers to participate in the activities. The fathers get an opportunity to talk to each other about the role of fathers, about challenges and joys. It also gives moms a chance to have some time for themselves each week.
The weekend meetings, which have had a few different names since start 20xx, We started when we noticed that there was a great demand for weekend activities. The whole family is welcome to these meetings and the meetings usually offer an activity that children and parents can do together. Cultivation is popular, and the children get to take home a pot of carrot seeds or flower seeds. Baking is also popular. Not only are doughs kneaded, but exciting conversations usually arise about which baked goods your parents make on which occasions.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many refugees came to Sweden. Many were single mothers with children. Svenska med baby then started activities for the Ukrainians, these meetings focused on information about the Swedish labor market and how the participants could get jobs. There were also a lot of health-related activities, which were much appreciated.
In 2023, another new type of meeting started, Three Generations Meet, which is aimed at families with children who are new to Sweden and at Swedish-speaking pensioners. The two target groups meet through the activities of the meetings and the goal is that several of the participants will have an extra grandmother or an extra family with whom they continue to have contact, even after the activities have ended.
A unique workplace
Those of us working at Svenska med baby come from different backgrounds, speak different languages and are of different ages. Many of us got our first job in Sweden right here. Some of us have a refugee background, while others have come to Sweden for other reasons. Some of us have lived in Sweden all our lives.
We wish more organizations and companies could see all the positive aspects of diversity when hiring. Like this one about language skills. At Svenska med baby we speak a total of 18 languages!
We learn from each other every day, we gain a better understanding of different religions and of different ways of dealing with situations that may arise in the workplace.
EN 
SE 
AR 
FA_IR 
FA 
UK 
TI 
SO 
TR