China

In the framework of the “Follow-up to the International Year of the Family (YIF) and the observance of its Tenth Anniversary in 2004”, the General Council of the World Family Organization took the resolution to organize a World Family Summit in December 2004, considering that the Summit would be an extraordinary opportunity to evaluate the achievements made since 1994 as well as to propose and initiate concrete actions and activities to address family related issues in the context of Economic, Social and Sustainable Development.
In partnership with the UN/DESA, NGO Section and Department of Public Administration the project of the Summit was prepared. In February 2003, the project of the Summit as well as statements about the commitments of WFO Members, Governmental, Non-Governmental, Universities, Parliamentarians and Families were presented to the 41st Session of the United Nations Commission of Social Development, held in New York.
The proposal was accepted and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) designated a Senior Interregional Advisor to help us to elaborate a concrete roadmap towards the achievement of the Summit, in a very innovative way, bringing together some Heads of States, Ministers of Social Affairs, Education, Health, Labor, Housing, Local Authorities, Academia, Parliamentarians, UN Regional Commissions and UN Specialized Agencies to discuss the role of the Family in the New Millennium and its contribution in the process of learning, dialoging and implementing the Millennium Development Goals.