2011-06-30

The twentieth anniversary of the International Year of Families, as declared by the UN in 1994, is preceded by intense preparations. The first event of these preparations was constituted by the conference entitled “Interregional solidarity: perceptions, rights, responsibilities” held in Brussels at the European Parliament on June 29th.

Participants including UN officials, MEPs, researchers, university professors, NGOs emphasized the growing importance of the family, mainly through family networks where members mutually help each other and organize different services for themselves (short term loans, allowances, digital courses etc). According to the speakers and the results of recent surveys, all families are faced with increasing difficulties in finding a role for their members in modern life and in the fast-paced world, because  family conditions a determine what sort of adult one becomes.

Speakers urged for enhanced social solidarity, larger social aids in the problem cases that seem to appear ever more often: families with many children, unemployed parents, single parents, parents with children with disabilities.

In his remarks, DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor stressed the importance of commitment towards family friendly policies, the role of the family in social processes and the social and economic benefits of the family. – All governments must have family friendly policies and sustain child birth because the ageing of the population cannot be balanced only through immigration – said Csaba Sógor.