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UN International Day of Families 2009
Day of Families Celebrated in Beirut
Written by UPF - Lebanon
Friday, May 15, 2009
Beirut, Lebanon - UPF-Lebanon invited Ambassadors for Peace and friends to an event on the occasion of the United Nations International Day of Families on May 15. Approximately 40 persons responded to the invitation and came to the Palm Beach Hotel in Beirut on a fine spring evening.
“In the family, each person, whether the smallest child or the oldest relative, is valued for himself or herself, and not seen simply as a means to some other end.” This statement by Pope Benedict XVI at a Mass in the Arab town of Nazareth only a day earlier perfectly highlighted the importance of the family in the current quest for sustainable standards in societies and economies.
Participants in the event said they had not been aware of the International Day of Families and expressed some surprise that the UN has not been promoting this day more strongly. “This is an important day, and we have to make it more popular everywhere,” commented one Ambassador for Peace who is also a television journalist.
The hour-long main program started with a video review of the 2008 activities, which made participants feel at home. Other program elements included a reading of excerpts from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s speech on the theme of this year's International Day of Families, “Mothers and Families: Challenges in a Changing World," and a brief UPF-Lebanon presentation of thinking points about families and the role of mothers.
An award of recognition was presented to one outstanding Lebanese woman leader working for peace with an immense heart of a mother, Mrs. Rabab Sadr, chair of the Imam Sadr Foundation. Presentation of Ambassador for Peace certificates to participants in the International Leadership Conference rounded off the program.
To read UPF's Declaration on Families, click here.
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