The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva has recently adopted an important resolution with regards to the Protection of the Family (A/HRC/29/L.25).

WUCWO, which currently coordinates the Working Group for the Family in the Forum for Catholic Inspired NGOs, in working together with Caritas Internationalis, Fondazione Giovanni XXIII, Point Coeur and the Justice and Peace Dominicans, played a supportive role throughout the drafting and adoption of this resolution by ensuring that the views of our organisations were expressed clearly to the Egyptian representative who led the process.

Some key points of the Resolution:

-Recognizes the family as the ‘natural and fundamental’ cell of society and as an ally against poverty, saying that it should therefore be supported in sustainable development programs.

-Encourages States to consider fiscal policies, investment plans and employment opportunities with respect to their impact on the well-being of families. And even encourages them, where necessary, to create observatory bodies to monitor family policies.

-Takes into account in particular the families composed of only mothers and children, highlighting the need for policies that protect against domestic violence and discrimination against women.

-Recognizes the work done by the associations of civil society to value the role of the family.

-Encourages the United Nations to incorporate the family perspective into the work of the Objectives of Post-2015 Development (SDG).

-Requests the High Commissioner to prepare a report on the impact of the implementation by States of their obligations regarding the protection of the family.

See the Resolution in: