NEW YORK, May 17 (C-Fam) UN member states and civil society gathered at UN headquarters to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the International Year of the Family during an event titled “It Takes a Family” on May 15, the International Day of Families.
“Thirty years ago, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 1994 The International Year of the Family with the objective of creating among Governments, policy-makers and the public a greater awareness of the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society. Sadly, all too often this objective remains elusive,” said Cathy Ruse, Senior Counsel at the Family Research Council who chaired the event.
Delegations who spoke at the event did not mince words when it came to assigning responsibility as to why it is difficult even to speak of the family at UN headquarters. They blamed socially progressive countries for holding the world hostage to foreign agendas. Delegates called on the UN system to protect and defend the “traditional family.”
Representatives from Belarus, Egypt, Qatar, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia also complained about attempts to erode the understanding of the family as natural and fundamental group unit of society enshrined in international law and pledged their continued support to protection of the family.
“Unfortunately, both the natural family and fundamental rights of parents are restricted in many countries around the world,” said the Russian Federation, adding that they were concerned with “dangerous attempts at the international level, and in particular in the UN, to adopt documents in order to restrict parent’s rights and to downgrade the role of parents in the care and protection of their children.”
The Holy See highlighted the importance of protection of the family to peace, mentioning also the danger to the family from “hedonistic ideologies” that tear families apart.
Addressing the pressure to redefine the family, the Holy See described these as “various forms of the family that by their very nature or intentional lack of permanence are in no way capable or expressing the meaning of and ensuring the good of the family.”
Monsignor Tomasz Grysa, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Holy See said, “it is the duty of the international community to encourage and protect the authentic institution of the family, respecting its natural structure and its innate and inalienable rights.” Read more via C-Fam
JOIN US AT THE UNITED NATIONS FOR THIS HIGH-LEVEL EVENT.
To observe the 25th Anniversary of the International Day of Families and commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family.
To highlight the family as a shared human experience and reality embraced across all cultures, religions, and moral traditions.
Objectives:
To observe the 25th Anniversary of the International Day of Families and commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family
To reiterate the family as the “natural and fundamental group unit of society,” as defined in international law, and the attendant obligations of Member States in binding international human rights instruments to protect and safeguard the family.
To highlight the family as an agent of sustainable social and economic development, and more specifically to recognize the essential role of the family for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
To highlight the family’s protective role, especially in protecting against poverty and violence, and in providing a loving and nurturing environment for the happiness, wellbeing, and integral human development of children and all family members.