UPF chapters organized a variety of events commemorating the UN International Day of Families, May 15, 2014. Since 2009, UPF has been promoting this UN observance because it considers the family as a microcosm of the global community and because sustainable peace is grounded in the family as the most intimate social unit, the school of love.
In Africa programs were organized in DR Congo, Kenya, Nigeria (Abuja, Akwa Ibom State and Lagos) and Zambia; in the Americas: Argentina, Barbados, Ecuador, Peru and the US; in Asia and Oceania: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand; and in Europe: Albania, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and the UK.
"By providing economic and emotional sustenance to their members, families can raise productive, caring citizens committed to the common good," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his statement about this year's theme, "Families Matter for the Achievement of Development Goals." He added that strong, well-functioning families can help "reduce poverty, improve the well-being of mothers, promote gender equality and uphold human rights."
On this 20th anniversary of the UN International Year of the Family, he encouraged member states to support families in realizing their full potential, factor their needs into development policies and consider their circumstances in addressing conflicts.
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