The Summit

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.

Justification

- All over the world, families are as different as they are alike. Families are essential to the world’s future; they are the cradle of the generation to come.
Everywhere, their strength and weaknesses reflect the fabric of the larger society.

- As the world’s oldest human relationship, the family has survived thousands of years, adapting constantly to changing socio-economic conditions and the progress of
humanity. Its diversity reflects the cultural pluralism of the individuals that constitute societies.

- The International Year of the Family in 1994 was observed at an important juncture in the history of the United Nations, on the eve of its Fiftieth Anniversary and of the World Summit for Social Development, and at a time of a profound breakthrough in achieving international consensus on political and socio-economic matters.

- That new consensus offers a rare second opportunity for the World Community to achieve peace, security, justice, human rights, social and economic progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.

- Milestones in this direction have been laid by the global events and development initiatives of the 1990’s and specially the Millennium Declaration Goals.

- Family issues were extensively covered in many global events and also in the plans of actions emanating from them, as follows:

1. The Interregional Consultation on Developmental Social Welfare Policies and Programmes (Vienna, September 1987)

2. The World Summit for Children (New York, September 1990)

3. The World Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, June 1992)

4. The World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, June 1993)

5. The International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, September 1994)

6. The International Conference on Families held in the UN General Assembly (October 1994)

7. The World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, March 1995)

8. The Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, September 1995)

9. The UN Conference on Human Settlements – Habitat II (Istanbul, June 1996)

10. The World Summit for Social Development + 5 (Geneva, June 2000)

11. The Millennium Summit (New York, September 2000)

12. The World Youth Forum (Dakar, August 2001)

13. The International Conference on Financing for Development (Mexico, March 2002)

14. The Second World Assembly on Aging (Madrid, April 2002)

15. The Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Children (New York, May 2002)

16. The Interregional Expert Meeting on International Norms and Standards relating to Disability (Mexico, June 2002)

17. The World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, August / September 2002).

- The World Family Organization sees a World Family Summit in 2004 as an extraordinary opportunity to review the objectives of the IYF, to gain and promote an accurate understanding of family issues, to initiate and implement actions and activities to address them, particularly at local levels, and to create a climate and institutional capabilities at various levels, conductive to these efforts.

- Finally, the World Family Summit will provide the ideal platform to diffuse, share, promote and call for implementation the Millennium Goals through the Basic Unity of
the Society – The Family.

Vision of the Summit

• The World Family Summit will constitute the biggest partnership towards making the present and the future world with more peace, security, justice, tolerance, solidarity, prosperity and integrated by mobilizing and promoting the basic cell of society – The Family.

• A comprehensive and integrated approach to development, redeeming all the family-related provisions of the outcomes of the UN Summits and Conferences of the 90’s and their follow-up processes to implement the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and address the main issues and challenges of the Third Millennium.

• A Forum where the interaction, discourse and partnership among the main stakeholders in this field - Governments, Local authorities, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations, Parliamentarians, Academia, Business Community and Families - will reaffirm the Millennium Declaration Goals and will share the responsibilities and the political will of its full implementation.

• A legacy to the future generation, through the engagement of all sectors of Society in a “Learning – Dialogue – Action” process.

Objectives

The main purpose of the World Family Summit is to promote the Family’s contribution to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals following a multi-stakeholder approach. More specifically the WFS in the framework of the Tenth Anniversary of the International Year of the Family, aims the following immediate objectives:

• To place family issues in definitive in the International Agenda.

• To increase awareness of family issues among National Governments, Local Authorities, NGOs and CSOs, Parliamentarians, Academia, Private Sector and Families.

• To strengthen the capacity of National and Local Institutions to identify, discuss, formulate, implement and monitor family-related policies.

• To enhance the effectiveness of local, national and regional efforts to carry out specifics family related programmes, generate new activities and strengthen existing ones.

• To stimulate public-private partnerships to respond to problems resulting of globalization, affecting and affected by, the situation of families.

• To improve collaboration among all actors of the Society, local, national and international organizations in support of families.

• To determine the appropriate means to implement concrete actions.

Expected Results of the Summit

The main expected results are as follows:

• A better and common understanding of the MDGs and the role of Family in contributing to their implementation through an enhanced learning, dialogue and action process.

• An exchange of experiences (good and bad) among participants to draw out the lessons learned and the best practices to adapt to each national context.

• A large consensus on the main and crucial issues to be addressed and on how to address them.

• A commitment of all stakeholders on a concrete action plan including a World Family Declaration on policies and programmes to be adopted and the means to implement them.

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