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Dr.
Deisi Weber Kusztra
WFO President |
Excellencies,
Members of the World Family Organization,
Partners,
Special Guests,
Participants,
Welcome to the World Family Summit +3!
On
behalf of the World Family Organization I have the pleasure
to welcome you once again to the greatest platform for “learning-dialogue-action”
focused on Family Issues in the process of development.
Since
the very first World Family Summit, held in 2004 in Sanya,
China, we have noticed that the shifting and evolving terrain
of the Family in the development perspective has received
an increasing attention from the international community:
Governments are understanding the pressing need of focusing
on the Family as the central agent for development; lawmakers,
decision-takers and academia are addressing crucial social
issues through the empowerment of grassroot NGOs and community
leaders, stimulating intersectoral cooperation in a concerted
effort.
The
World Family Summit +1 held Sergipe, Brazil in 2005 resulted
in the Practical Plan of Action, which gave us a roadmap
to start the implementation of our agreed policies at the
local level. This implementation process has been hard and
slow, but the seeds were spread out. Harvests will come.
The
Dead Sea Declaration, from the World Family Summit +2 held
in Jordan in 2006, endorsed the understanding that family
life should not be competition or disruptive of professional
life and that “decent work” should be at the
heart of global, national and local strategies for economic
and social progress. It is central to efforts to reduce
poverty, and a means for achieving equitable, inclusive
and sustainable development.
This
year, the World Family Summit +3 will hold an open discussion,
in which government officials, experts, organizations and
civil society representatives will tackle sensitive issues
that have a very harsh impact on the Families such as Poverty,
lack of fair Education, decent Housing, Maternal and Child
health care, HIV/AIDS, Domestic Violence and Gender inequality.
Properly
dealing with those thorny problems demands a coherent and
multidisciplinary approach, forging local and global partnerships
to mobilize human resources and funds to efficiently build
the foundations for actions aimed at a brighter life for
Families.
The
challenges of the World Family Summit +3 are almost as great
as the ambitions of Families worldwide. May we cooperate
effectively and liaise efficiently for a shared, peaceful
and most promising future for all of us, Families of the
World!
My
warmest welcome to all!