Dear Members, Friends and Visitors,

We just accomplished very successfully our second preparatory meeting for the World Family Summit +5 in Turkey. In an official ceremony and in celebration of the UN International Day of Families, we signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Prime Ministry General Directorate for Family and Social Researches to hold the World Family Summit +5, in the beautiful city of Istanbul from 4 – 6 December 2009.

During four days we worked very diligently discussing every detail of the concept and the program for the Summit. Very soon you will be able to check the results of our work in the Summit’s new website.

I would like to thank in a very special way the team of experts of the Prime Ministry General Directorate for Family and Social Researches for the hard work done in a very professional and competent manner. I am sure that when all of you will come to Istanbul you will have the opportunity to meet this team and you will agree with me.

We also had a very good working session with the newly appointed Minister of Women, Families, Children and Disabled of Turkey, H.E. Selma Alyie Havaf, which was concluded with a very successful press conference where the World Family Summit +5 was officially launched for the media and the public in general.

It was a great satisfaction for us to know that the previous Minister, H.E. Nimet Çubukçu, with whom we started our negotiations, after the recent elections, was appointed as Minister of Education of Turkey. The compromise done by Minister Çubukçu continue to be strong especially because Education issues are very linked to Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, our theme for the World Family Summit +5.

We also had the pleasure to be received at the UN House in Turkey by the UNICEF Representative, Mr. Reza Hossaini, by UNICEF Deputy Representative, Mrs. Regina de Dominicis and by the UNFPA Representative for Turkey and Country Director for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Dr. Peer Sieben. In a very friendly meeting, the WFO delegation and the Turkish delegation had the opportunity to present to the World Family Summit +5 to the UN Representatives and invite them to join us as country partners. The idea was very well received and we thank the UN House team for the support given, and we are sure that their expertise not only in Turkey but in the region will bring about valuable collaboration to the Summit’s outcomes.

We would like also to thank the constant support of the UN New York team at the ECOSOC Office for Support and Coordination, in the person of the Director Mr. Nikhil Seth and the Program Officer Mr. Marc-André Dorel who are bringing expertise and support to the organization of the World Family Summit +5.

In consolidating the main theme for the World Family Summit +5, encompassing with the ECOSOC 2010 theme, we all agreed that a new approach is needed for the achieviement of the MDG 3. So, we decided to get some guidance of the Millennium Project Task Force on the MDG 3 as the “MDG 3 + Approach”.

We will direct our discussions in three inter-related domains: the Capabilities Domain, the Access to Opportunities Domain and the Security Domain guiding the discussions on priorities suggested as the minimum necessary to empower women and to alter the historical legacy of the women disadvantage that remains in most societies of the world.

Dear friends, as you can see, the World Family Summit +5 promises!

So we invite you warmly to check frequently for the news in our website as well as in our Newsletter for updating and information about the logistical and programmatic issues of the Summit.

Best regards,