September 2000, No. 37

Deadline for contributions: 1 December 2000
					
THIS BULLETIN ABSTRACTS THE COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE VIENNA NGO COMMITTEE ON THE FAMILY. IT DOES NOT REFLECT ALL FAMILY-ORIENTED ACTIVITIES. NOR DOES IT INTEND TO GIVE EMPHASIS TO ONE ORGANIZATION, COUNTRY OR ATTITUDE OVER ANOTHER. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOUR NEWS AND VIEWS REFLECTED, PLEASE SHARE THEM WITH US. WE WILL ENDEAVOR TO REPORT ON THEM WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS PUBLICATION.

Vienna NGO Committee on the Family
*Martinstrasse 92/3, 1st floor, 1180 Vienna, Austria
(Phone/Fax: 43-1-405 89 01
Email: famcom.vienna@utanet.at
For contributions to “Families International“:
Email: ematt@vki.or.at

From The Desk Of The Editors
Dear reader, We want to thank you for your many fine contributions that make up this edition. We cannot publish this Bulletin without your help. Please let us hear from you. Finally, we are sure that you are aware, that the mailing of our bulletin is costly. In order to reduce our expenses we would like to ask those who can be reached by email to send your email address to:
famcom.vienna@utanet.at

Please let us know how you spent the International Day of Families! You are invited to collaborate and to send us your contributions as well as your suggestions as to topics for future issues either by email to: ematt@vki.or.at, or by mail to the Committee (see address above).

special FEATURE
World Summit For Social Development And Beyond

Achieving Social Development For All In A Globalising World
Geneva, Switzerland, 26-30 June 2000
Report by Deputy Chair of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, Rosina Santa Olalla
1	Background
The General Assembly convened its twenty-fourth Special Session entitled "World Summit for Social Development and beyond: achieving social development for all in a globalising world", on 26-30 June in Geneva, during which member states assessed the progress in implementing the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development.

Delegations made their statements in the Plenary, attended by accredited NGOs attended these Plenary meetings. During five days Member States assessed the progress made towards implementing the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. An Ad Hoc Committee established by the Assembly considered a three-part document: Part I Political Declaration; Part II Overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development; and part III Further actions and initiatives to implement the commitments made at the Summit. Simultaneously, two Working Groups were having deliberations on the 10 Commitments made at the Summit: Group I; and Group II. NGOs were allowed to attend these “informal discussions”. There was an estimated total of 4,596 delegates and 762 Non-Governmental Organisations present. The Geneva 2000 Forum was organised in parallel with the General Assembly at the International Conference Centre of Geneva. 

2	Opening Session
Addressing the Special Session, the President, Dr. Theo-Ben Guribab, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Namibia said that Member States had come to Geneva to agree on real solutions to the acute problems of real people. This main challenge was represented by the awesome force of globalisation, which millions in the world welcome while millions fear it. ”What the world actually needs”, said the President, “is globalisation with a head, a heart and a human face”. He further stated that the burden of the Third World debt is in fact even more crushing that the absence of aid and that a number of African countries are forced to pay more for debt services than for education and health combined. The President also referred to the plight of the world’s children: “Their despair”, he said, “has now been further exacerbated by the breakdown of the family and by the horror of organised crime and child soldiering”. Secretary General Kofi Annan said that no country can be indifferent to the social conditions in which so many people in poor countries live. “Such extreme squalor”, he said, “is an affront to our common humanity, and no country can be called truly prosperous so long as many citizens of the world are left to fend for themselves against ignorance, hardship and disease”.

The Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session, Mr. Cristian Maquieira (Chile), introduced the Committee’s Report. He said that it was no secret that many people had lost faith in some of the international institutions that for decades had been charged with responsibility for managing the world economy. The message of Seattle was not only a challenge from the street addressed to the Bretton Woods institutions but a challenge to the United Nations itself to re-prove its relevance. “We can do that”, he said, “if we recall and reassert the original purpose of the UN, which is to give voice to the voiceless”.

The Prime Minister of Denmark asked if the Summit really paved the way for a new and better future for the many and live up to its commitments. “We have to admit”, he said, “that some progress but far too little progress has been made. Our commitments have not been fulfilled and certainly not with the agreed speed. Billions of poor, disadvantaged men, women and children around the world rightfully expected us to do better”.

Mr. John Langmore, Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs, noted that: “The developed countries tend to argue that poverty should be reduced through good governance and related policies with developing countries, whereas the developing countries argue that the crucial factor was an international enabling environment and market access to their exports, debt reduction and increased development assistance and redesign of the international financial institutions architecture. NGOs tend to argue mostly for changes in the international environment as well.”

A number of Delegations included the family in their statements as part of their programmes or legislation. Such was the case of: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brunei Darussalan, Djibouti, Lithuania, Mauritius, Qatar, Singapore, the Seychelles, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan. 

3	Documents I to III
Document I – Political Declaration
The unedited final outcome document as adopted by the Plenary is entitled "Proposals for further initiatives for social development". The opening section of this Political Declaration termed globalisation and rapid technologies advances unprecedented opportunities for social and economic development but said that they presented serious challenges, including widespread financial crisis, insecurity, poverty, exclusion and inequality within and among societies.

Considerable obstacles to further integration and full participation in the global economy remained for developing countries, in particular the least-developed countries, as well as for some countries with economies in transition, and unless the benefits of social and economic development were extended to all countries, a growing number of people and even entire regions would remain marginalised from the global economy.

Document II – “Proposal for further initiatives for social Development. Overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development”
“There has been continued recognition that the family is the basic unit of society and that it plays a key role in social development and is a strong force of social cohesion and integration. In different cultural, political and social systems, various forms of the family exist”.
This unedited paragraph 25 under "social integration" was the text discussed during the 38th of the Commission for Social Development held in New York in February 2000. 

Document III “Proposals for further initiatives for social development – Further action and initiatives to implement the Commitments made at the Summit”
This unedited final outcome document on the 10 Commitments, adopted by the Commission, was discussed in working groups I and II. The 10 Commitments relate to: (1) an enabling environment for social development; (2) poverty eradication; (3) full employment; (4) promotion of social integration; (5) equality and equity between women and men; (6) universal and equitable access to high-quality education and health services; (7) development in Africa and in the least-developed countries; (8) inclusion of social development goals in structural-adjustment programmes; (9) resources for social development; (10) international co-operation for social development. Of this long text (28 pages) we would single out the following paragraphs:
11	(Commitment 1): Recommend the High-Level International Intergovernmental Event on Financing for Development, to be held in 2001, to consider mobilisation of national and international resources for social development for the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action.
22	(Commitment 1): Give proper consideration to urgent and effective measures regarding the issue of the social and humanitarian impact of sanctions, in particular on women and children, with a view to minimising social and humanitarian effects of sanctions.
24	(Commitment 2): Place poverty eradication at the centre of economic and social development and build consensus with all relevant actors at all levels on policies and strategies to reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by one half by the year 2015, with a view to eradicating poverty. 
27bis (q)	(Commitment 2): Supporting initiatives that help empower people living in poverty, especially female heads of households, and promote their capacities for self-organisation to enable them to better utilise available opportunities, basic social services and productive resources. 
45 (c)	(Commitment 3) Assisting women and men to reconcile employment and family responsibilities by, inter alia, flexible working arrangements, including parental voluntary part-time employment and work-sharing, as well as accessible and affordable quality child-care and dependent-care facilities, paying particular attention to the needs of single-parent households.
54bis (Commitment 4): Recognise that the family is the basic unit of society and that it plays a key role in social development and is a strong force of social cohesion and integration. In different cultural, political and social systems various forms of the family exist. Further recognise that equality and equity between women and men and respect for the rights of all family members are essential for family well-being and for society at large and promote appropriate actions to meet the needs of families and their individual members, particularly in the areas of economic support and provision of social services. Greater attention should be paid to helping the family in its supporting, educating and nurturing roles, to the causes and consequences of family disintegration and to the adoption of measures to reconcile work and family life for women and men.
65bis	(Commitment 4): Recognise that stable, supportive and nurturing family relationships, supported by communities and, where available, professional services, can provide a vital shield against substance abuse, particularly among minors. Schools and the media, including through the use of information technologies, including the Internet, should be encouraged to provide young people with information on the dangers of substance and addiction and on how to seek help.
72bis (d)	(Commitment 5): … Ensuring the reduction of maternal morbidity as a health sector priority.
75bis (b)	(Commitment 6): Strengthen information, education and communication campaigns to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and to promote safe and responsible sexual behaviour, in full partnership with youth, parents, families, educators and health care providers.
129	(Commitment 10): … And request the Economic and Social Council to regularly assess, through the Commission for Social Development, the further implementation of the Copenhagen Commitments and the outcome of the 24th special session of the General Assembly, not excluding the possibility of bringing together, at the appropriate time, all parties involved to evaluate progress and to consider further initiatives.

4	Agreements (01-07-00)
The following agreements were among the achievements of the Special Session on a target of the year 2015:
•	To reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty;
•	To consolidate the gains from the Social Summit and the Special Session to launch a Global Campaign Against Poverty;
•	To encourage creditor countries to implement debt relief arrangements for African and least developed countries, while stressing that the debt relief go for national development objectives;
•	That new standards are necessary to measure productivity and efficiency that show the true cost of unemployment and poverty;
•	On a series of measures to empower people living in poverty through macroeconomic policies integrating employment growth and poverty reduction goals, skills training and micro-credit schemes, encouraging the growth of small and medium enterprises and ensuring universal access to basic social services;
•	To improve social protection systems through the sharing of best practices;
•	To provide technical assistance to developing countries and countries in transition;
•	On combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic and setting a target of reducing the infection level among young people in Africa by 25 percent by 2005;
•	On the need to provide low-cost medicine to people in developing countries;
•	To protect basic social services, especially health and education, when dealing with international financial crises;
•	That developing countries should have more effective participation in international economic deliberations, including those of the international financial institutions, by applying principles of good governance, transparency and accountability;
•	To encourage corporate responsibility by promoting awareness about the relationship between social development and growth, and provide legal, economic and social policy framework to promote corporate responsibility:
•	To promote an international strategy to increase access to employment;
•	To work to prevent corruption, bribery, money laundering and illegal transfer of funds.

John Langmore, Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development, called the outcome “an international policy pact that can make the world economy less turbulent, less cruel and much more fair”. He added: “Although governments disagree on many issues, there is a broadening and deepening political consensus that governments must look for the weaker members of society, and that strong nations have a comparable responsibility to pay much closer attention to the needs of the weak ones”.

5	Non-Governmental Organisations
NGOs speaking in the Plenary meetings were: Third World Network, International Chamber of Commerce/International Organisations of Employers, Service and Research Foundation for Asia on Family and Culture , International Federation on Free Trade Unions, Azerbaijan Women and Development, Social Watch, International Council on Social Welfare and European Women’s Lobby. Third World Network said that “a striking lower number of Heads of State and Government had taken part in this Special Session, confirming fears about the unsatisfactory level of commitment to the outcome of Copenhagen”.

6	GENEVA 2000 FORUM
Four of the 226 meetings held at the Geneva International Conference Centre, 22-30 June, focused on the family:
(a)	“La Politique Familiale au Québec”, organiser: Ministère de la Famille et de l’Enfance, Gouvernement du Québec
(b)	“The Family in the Context of Social Development”, organiser: World Family Organisation
(c)	“Les parents face à la mondialisation”, organiser: International Federation for Parent Education
(d)	“The Family in the New Millennium”, organisers and sponsors: World Movement of Mothers, World Family Policy Centre, General Arab Women Federation, 

Peter Crowley, Chair of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, and Rosina Santa Olalla, Deputy Chair, attended both the Special Session and the Geneva Forum.

NEWS FROM THE UNITED NATIONS

Millennium Forum, United Nations New York, 22-26 May 2000
The Millennium Forum was convened at the instigation of the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, "to focus on preparing the United Nations to meet the major challenges and needs of the world community in the twenty-first century." The preparation was co-ordinated by the Conference of Non-Governmental Organisations in Consultative Relationship with the UN (CONGO) and was co-chaired by Techeste Ahderom, Chairperson of the International NGO Committee on Human Rights. Kofi Annan opened it in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations, in the presence of 1,350 representatives of over 1,000 NGOs and other civil society organisations from more than 100 countries. The Chairperson of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, Peter Crowley, was one of the invited participants. Kofi Annan said that he believes that "the overreaching challenge of our times is to make globalisation mean more than bigger markets.... Today I am asking you NGOs to be both leaders and partners: where necessary, to lead and inspire governments to live up to your ideals; where appropriate, to work with governments to achieve their goals..... With a strong and united voice, you can help make globalisation work in favour of all the world's peoples: you can work to implement the globalisation of solidarity." Five days of open and frank discussions took place in plenary and in six working group sessions between civil society and UN representatives and from other international institutions on:
1.	Peace, Security and Disarmament
2.	Eradication of Poverty
3.	Human Rights
4.	Sustainable Development
5.	The Challenges of Globalisation
6.	Strengthening and Democratising the UN and other International Organisations

A 25-page Declaration of "We the Peoples Millennium Forum" was approved at the closing session in the General Assembly Hall and presented to the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms. Louise Frechette, for presentation by Kofi Annan to the 150 heads of state and government, who will participate, again at the invitation of the Secretary-General, in the Millennium Summit at the United Nations, in September 2000. The document begins with the outline of the vision of the participant NGOs, the challenges facing society and goes on to list a series of concrete steps called an "Agenda for Action" to include steps to be taken in partnership between civil society, governments and the United Nations, in the areas of concern of the above mentioned working groups. The following is the Preamble of the Declaration:

‘We the Peoples Millennium Forum Declaration and Agenda for Action Strengthening the United Nations for the 21st Century:
Our Vision
Our vision is of a world that is human-centred and genuinely democratic, where all human beings are full participants and determine their own destinies. In our vision we are one human family, in all our diversity, living on one common homeland and sharing a just, sustainable and peaceful world, guided by universal principles of democracy, equality, inclusion, voluntarism, non-discrimination and participation by all persons, men and women, young and old, regardless of race, faith, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or nationality. It is a world where peace and human security, as envisioned in the principles of the United Nations Charter, replace armaments, violent conflict and wars. It is a world where everyone lives in a clean environment with a fair distribution of the earth’s resources. Our vision includes a special role for the dynamism of young people and the experience of the elderly and reaffirms the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights – civil, political, economic, social and cultural.
The Challenges
We begin the new millennium facing grave and interconnected challenges. As actors in the struggle for peace, justice and the eradication of poverty, NGOs encounter daily the human impact of rising violence and armed conflicts, widespread violations of human rights, and unacceptably large numbers of people who are denied the means of a minimal human existence. At the same time, new and emerging diseases such as HIV/AIDS threaten to devastate entire societies.
Globalisation and advances in technology create significant opportunities for people to connect, share and learn from each other. At the same time, corporate-driven globalisation increases inequities between and within countries, undermines local traditions and cultures, and escalates disparities between rich and poor, thereby marginalising large numbers of people in urban and rural areas. Women, indigenous peoples, youth, boys and girls, and people with disabilities suffer disproportionately from the effects of globalisation. Massive debt repayments are still made by the poorest nations to the richest, at the expense of basic healthcare, education and children's lives. Trafficking in women, sexual exploitation, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and the flow of small arms promote insecurity. States are becoming weaker, while an unaccountable, trans-national private sector grows stronger. A single-minded focus on economic growth through uncontrolled free markets, combined with the adjustment and stabilisation policies of international financial institutions controlled by the rich creditor nations are crippling many national economies, exacerbating poverty, eroding human values and destroying the natural environment.
Globalisation should be made to work for the benefit of everyone: eradicate poverty and hunger globally; establish peace globally; ensure the protection and promotion of human rights globally; ensure the protection of our global environment; enforce social standards in the workplace globally…. This can happen only if global corporations, international financial and trade institutions and governments are subject to effective democratic control by the people. We see a strengthened and democratised United Nations and a vibrant civil society as guarantors of this accountability. And we issue a warning: if the architects of globalisation are not held to account, this will not simply be unjust; the edifice will crumble with dire consequences for everyone. In the end, the wealthy will find no refuge, as intolerance, disease, environmental devastation, war, social disintegration and political instability spread.
We wish to put forward a series of concrete steps to strengthen co-operation among all actors at the international, national, regional and local levels to make this vision a reality. Our Agenda for Action includes steps that should be taken by civil society, governments, and the United Nations.’
(The complete text of the declaration and further information about the Forum and the Millennium Summit are available on the Internet under: http://www.millenniumforum.org)

During the Millennium Forum the concept of civil society as an inclusive society was constantly stressed and that NGOs themselves, as representatives of civil society practice inclusivity, by being: 1. Accountable, 2. Transparent and 3. Democratic. Otherwise NGOs cannot claim to represent an inclusive society. NGOs are often founded on the enthusiasm and social commitment of one or more individuals, but long term, need to set up a structure to incorporate the three principles of accountability, transparency and democracy in order to be truly inclusive. These are also necessary requirements for securing external funding from governments or other institutions. As enriching as that experience was, it can only be hoped that the Millennium Forum will not just remain as an intensive week of interchange between civil society, the United Nations and other international institutions, as enriching as that experience was, but that it will lead to new impetus in the on-going partnership between them in confronting the challenges of globalisation, in it's many facets and forms. Kofi Annan has given great encouragement to civil society and it is up to us to accept the outstretched hand of partnership and to be aware of ourselves in NGOs as true partners of governments and the United Nations.
Reported by: Peter Crowley, Chairperson, Vienna NGO Committee on the Family

Countdown To 2002: The Second World Assembly On Ageing
The United Nations Secretariat initiates preparations to pave the way for a Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002. With the adoption of General Assembly Resolution 54/262, the United Nations programme on ageing because the process of revising the 1982 International Plan of Action on Ageing and developing a long-term Strategy on Ageing, a central mandate and substantive undertaking for the Second World Assembly on Ageing. The purpose of Countdown to 2002 is to periodically reflect on the many stages of this process. This issue is devoted to the first meeting of the technical committee, which is one component in the preparatory process to assist the Secretary-General in the formulation of proposals to the Commission for Social Development, the official preparatory committee for the Assembly. 

‘The General Assembly decided, at its forty-forth session, to convene a Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Vienna World Assembly on Ageing, devoted to the overall review of the outcome of the first World Assembly, as well as to the adoption of a revised plan of action and a long-term strategy on ageing, encompassing its periodic reviews, in the context of a society for all ages’ (Resolution 54/262).

Technical Committee: The First Meeting 
One of the roles of the technical committee is to advise the Secretariat on the content of the Plan and Strategy; the role of the Secretariat is to draft the Plan and the Strategy, which will be subject to inter-governmental negotiation and approval by the General Assembly. The first meeting of the technical committee, held in Frankfurt on 13-16 June, was made possible by the financial support of the Government of Germany, and hosted by the German Association for Public and Private Welfare. Fifteen experts from a cross-section of professional and geographic backgrounds participated in the Frankfurt meeting, all in their personal capacity. Five areas regarding the revision of the Plan of Action structured the discussions over the four days: focus, framework, foundation, end-users, and format, as well as the development and content of the long-term Strategy on Ageing. Overall, special consideration was given during the meeting to the question of how to ensure that the future revised Plan and Strategy will pay particular attention to developing countries; experts suggested not to devote specific chapters to developed and developing countries, citing the tremendous diversity within those two categories. In addition, the concept of a society for all ages was agreed to be a valid approach to the organisational framework of the Plan of Action. 
Two paths were taken in approaching the basis of the new Plan. One involved an attempt to provide a conceptual scheme and a practical tool to enable the Plan to better reflect the heterogeneous realities and needs of developing and developed countries. This approach, in the form of a matrix, presents conceptual thinking about the development of policies on ageing. It incorporates an expansion of three of the four dimensions of a society for all ages, including development throughout the life-course, multigenerational relationships, and population ageing and development, to include themes of cultural and ethnic diversity and gender. Five quality of life domains, which represent a continuum of risk factors and vulnerabilities, make up the rest of the matrix. These five domains include: a) from poverty to income security; b) from social exclusion to integration/participation; c) from lack of social support to supportive social networks; d) from lack of wellbeing to social, mental and physical health/wellbeing; and e) from non-supportive physical environment (habitat) to supportive physical environment. The other path suggested straightforward categories to underscore developing country concerns. They include: health; human rights; income security and employment; housing and environment; globalisation; formal/informal care; family and multigenerational relations; research; education and training; and life-course development. 
A second technical committee will take place in the Dominican Republic in autumn of 2000, with financial support from the Government of Spain. The deliberations of the meetings, as well as input from the international community of Member States, the United Nations system, inter-governmental organisations, and international non-governmental organisations will be taken into consideration by the United Nations Secretariat on drafting the Assembly documents. 
Taken from: Newsletter of the United Nations Programme on Ageing, No. 2, July 2000, UN Secretariat for the World Assembly on Ageing
Contact: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Social Policy and Development, UN Programme on Ageing - The UN Secretariat for the World Assembly on Ageing, Room DC2-1358, 2 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA, Web: http:/www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing

Thirty-Ninth Session Of The Commission For Social Development New York, 13-23 February 2001
The 39th Session will have as its priority theme ‘Social Protection and Reducing Vulnerability in a Globalising World’. More information will follow. See the agenda on the internet at un.org

VIENNA NGO COMMITTEE ON THE FAMILY

Celebrating the International Day of Families, the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family invited Ms Evelyn L. Kawonza, Ambassador of Zimbabwe, who made the following contribution:

Families - Agents & Beneficiaries Of Development & Social Progress
I wish to start by thanking the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family for inviting me to share my thoughts with you on this very topical issue; Families – Agents & Beneficiaries of Development and Social Progress using Zimbabwe as a case study. Development and social progress have to be understood within social context, especially families. In turn, families as fundamental social units are most completely understood in terms of ethnicity and world cultures. Therefore, one is looking at individuals, families, communities and the environment in which they function – developed or developing. In rich and poor countries alike, policy-makers need to look beyond the myth that all families are stable and cohesive units in which the father serves as the economic provider and the mother as the emotional caregiver, and all children are treated equally and well. Quite often, this is not the case. In Zimbabwe, for example, women are legally equal to men. In reality, despite what the law says, family advancement in such areas as education, politics, health care and inheritance of property tends to be diverted to boys and men who are considered to be heads and natural breadwinners for the family. 
Lack of education among women tends to lead to a lack of education among girl children. This in turn leads to limited job opportunities and less preparedness to manage issues outside the home. This is a major disadvantage because individual needs have been taken care of within as well as outside the home. Farming becomes a viable alternative to wage labour for these women who lack access to employment due to limited education and/or training. To have a set-up where development and social progress happen, it is important to empower individuals. That strengthens communities. 
Thus one finds that even if the traditional Zimbabwean culture seldom or never consulted women for decision-making in the home or community, today it has been the women who subsidise family incomes.
To achieve this, they involve themselves in menial activities selling vegetables, fruits and other garden products at markets and clothes at flea markets. The more prosperous may even run clothes boutiques, hair salons, tuck shops etc. Official statistics may not reflect his effort, but it is a significant aspect of Zimbabwean life. 
Non-Governmental Organisations, national and international, whose interest lies in women’s advancement, have changed the lives of Zimbabwean women. Their work ranges from community based projects in the communal areas or urban based activities. Initially, NGOs concentrated on providing skills training, promoting income generating activities and adult literacy programmes to reduce illiteracy among women. They have also focused on legal research, networking women’s enterprises, advocacy and counselling for marital problems. The whole idea is to empower women, and thus enable them to get their children better educated. They know that the right to educational opportunities for all individuals enhances their intellectual development and maximises their potential. The main thrust of all these concerted efforts is to alleviate poverty and accelerate the social and economic development of the marginalised and disadvantaged people on our society.
The Zimbabwean family is extended and still very strong. Its vitality encourages the development and use of personal, social and material resources to meet human needs. The physical, psychosocial, economic and aesthetic well being of individuals and families encourages the development of the supportive home and community environment.
Educating and making available more legal rights for women, which in turn translate into youth activities, recreational, educational and sport activities for young people makes it possible to maintain strong family set-ups. 
The design, management, use and access to current and emerging technologies then become feasible. Sadly, however, the harsh economic realities of everyday life and concentration of human settlement in urban areas, are eroding the once strong ties of extended family responsibilities. Traditionally, no clan member could go hungry without receiving help from other well-off members of the extended family. Nowadays, this has changed with greater significance – given the nuclear family needs and thus making them more insulated. Increasingly, more and more disadvantaged families are looking for government assistance thus greatly over-stretching the social welfare budget.
As a result, we have seen a large number of primary school dropouts, due to lack of school fees, swelling the ranks of street kids in urban areas. These kinds become exposed to criminal and other anti-social practices, which a stable family unit could otherwise have cushioned them from.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that families remain an important pillar of society and a custodian of a community and national values, which help to shape a distinct and unique character of a nation. This is true to Zimbabwe as it is to any other nation of the world.
I thank you.

Reflections On The Seminar ‘Strategies To Strengthen Family Organisations In central And Eastern European Countries’, 17-20 October 1999
This Seminar has been another major step in the attempt to strengthen networking and the role of NGOs in the European Union. There is a need to include the family NGOs of the Associated Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) into the consultation process of partnership of NGOs and government using the synergies for progressive family policies. 
The Seminar was organised by the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family in close co-operation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for Environment, Youth and Family Affairs through the Ministry’s multi-year support programme for CEEC Family Organisations. This programme includes sponsoring of participants for the 7th International Seminar (1998), the publication ‘Building Family Networks in the CEEC’ (1998/99), the present Seminar in October 1999, and if possible, follow-up activities. Much appreciation must be expressed to Rosa A. Weiss from the Federal Ministry for her continuous support, understanding and the trust for NGO activities.
The Seminar was based on the evaluation of the NGO contributions to the above-mentioned publication and through other mean of communication over a long period of co-operation. It considered experiences, shortcomings, needs and expectations in view of growing awareness of their role in civil society, such as, realising democratic operations, participation in decision-making, the need for support in capacity-building and increased accountability of their organisations.
In regard to the different backgrounds of the participants the Seminar was designed in two sections. For the 25 national NGOs from 12 CEEC: two days of training modules and thematic discussions focusing on ‘Management Changes in Non-Profit Organisations’, on ‘Management and Networking’ and ‘Problems of Management and Action Planning’, with the aim to acquire qualifications for effective networking, project planning and realisation.
The third day, with the theme ‘Partnership of NGOs in Family Policy Issues’, was part of the Full Committee Meeting of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family. The aim of this joint meeting with panes presentations and CEEC NGO Best Practices presentations was to intensify networking and partnerships of NGOs, with local and national governments, with European and United Nations institutions, but also among the manifold NGOs themselves.
The summary of the group reports showed the diversity of CEEC Family NGOs, their different societal backgrounds and the striving for democratic policy development. Finally, reviewing the participants evaluation-sheets there are encouraging points made, e.g. strong motivation, confidence, sensibilisation for the interdependence of international family policy decisions with possibilities for NGO participation, especially on local levels, planning and implementing projects to gain more qualification in the areas of leadership management, public relations, support for family exchange programmes, important contacts for networking etc. All this is a promising outlook into the future.
Author: Monica Tupay, Seminar Co-ordinator, International Federation of Home Economics (IFHE)
Contact: Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, Martinstrasse 92/3, 1180 Vienna, Austria, Phone/Fax: +43-1-405 89 01, Email: famcom.vienna@utanet.at

Working Group Developing Countries Focus On Africa
The pilot project has been successfully completed: 75% of the recipients replied to the initial questionnaire sent to NGOs. There is a supporting letter from the vice president of Kenya. The next phase of the project is now being prepared. Further information will follow. The Project is also supported by the Office of the Vice-president of Kenya.

Working Group 10th Anniversary Of IYF
The 10th anniversary celebrations were decided by the General Assembly in October 1999, resolution 54/124 which was supported by 40 countries. The General Assembly may hold a world conference on Family, i.e. four sessions of the General Assembly in 2004 will be devoted to that event.

FAMILY-RELATED NGO NEWS

Celebration Of International Family Day 2000 - Alliance Of Solidarity For The Family (ASFF), Republic Of Seychelles
ASFF in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Manpower Development organised the following activities and issued a number of IEC materials to help families. The four main activities were:
Family Bazaar - Saturday, 13 May
This was meant to be an economic empowerment activity for families who joined together at a Fair to do some family shopping, while others contributed items for sale or take a stall and sell whatever they wanted as a sort of income generating activity.
Family Picnic - Sunday, 14 May
This was meant to encourage families to spend time together in a relaxed atmosphere and have fun away from home. It was organised at one of the nicest beaches in the country. Both sport activities and other sorts of competitions were organised.
Family Charity Request Programme
This activity has enabled family members to exchange family greetings and since they contribute something in cash it served as a fund raising activity for the Alliance.
Seminar ‘Raising Children in the Third Millennium’ - 15-16 May
The Director General of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Manpower Development officially opened this event. There were about 40 participants, representing various key ministries, organisations, NGOs, churches and a number of parents from the Alliance. The main aim was to enable participants to examine and address challenges facing parents and identify possible changes that are necessary and at the same time, come up with realistic and practical approaches/guides to help parents in their daily task of raising children.
Contact: Alliance of Solidarity for the Family (ASFF), Ms Rose-Mary Elizabeth, Executive Director, P.O. Box 885, Victoria, Mahe, Republic of Seychelles, Phone: +248-323 211, Fax: +248-324 963.

International Day Of The Family In Guyana
The International Day of the Family was marked this year in Guyana, the one English-speaking country in South America (population 750,000) with television and radio panels on the role of family in the social development of a diverse population comprising 50% Hindus and Moslems of Indian ancestry, 35% descendants of African Slaves, 7% Indigenous peoples and the remainder of mixed races. While recognising that Guyana is part of the Caribbean region with the highest incidence in the world of mainly female single parent families (30%), Minister of Human Services and Social Security Indra Chandarpal, nevertheless stressed in her Family Day message that there is “increasing emphasis being placed on shared responsibilities of men and women in the development of family life. Increasingly men are taking an active role in contributing to the welfare of the home, especially in the caring and nurturing of children.” This comes alongside the increasing incidence in Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean of women working outside the home and overtaking men in higher education. Over the past 6 years women at the Regional University of the Westindies and the University of Guyana have accounted for 69% and 63% of the total number of graduating students. The Minister in her message also urged a change in “the callousness and irresponsible behaviour of some men who abandon their parental responsibilities, thereby weakening the very structure of family life”. International Day of the Family in Guyana also highlighted work by the National Commission of the Family on a Family Code that seek consensus among the country’s varied cultural traditions, on proposals for a Family Court advanced by the country’s female Chief Justice Desiree Bernard, and strong legislation passed against Domestic Violence.
Contact: Mike James, Email: mike.james.wfp@undp.org

Merging Youth And Adult Mental Health Services 
A Community's Collaborative Effort to Serve Older, Severely Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents 
Adolescents, who are close to reaching legal adult status (18 years), often need help and encouragement to continue in therapy and in taking their medication. Too frequently when they realise they no longer are required to follow adult directives, they drop out of the mental health system and discontinue their treatment, ending up in a state of crisis. To help ensure that they continue to receive needed services, the children's mental health agency and the adult mental health agencies meet quarterly to discuss youth who will turn 18 years within the next three months. The adult case manager begins working with the youth and with the children's case manager to start connecting the youth to adult services before they turn 18 years. Services such as, psychiatry, counselling, job skills training, job coaching, and assistance in locating housing are offered. By having the youth form a relationship with the adult case manager, and by linking the youth with services providers in the adult system prior to their turning 18 years, the youth is more likely to stay connected to mental health services. This helps prevent psychiatric emergencies and assists the youth in becoming independent.
Contact: Sarah C. Scott, LISW, ACSW, Assistant Director of Intensive Services, The Child Guidance Centres, 405 Tallmadge Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, 44221 Akron, Ohio, USA, Email: Scotts@childgc.org

Dialogue Of Parents And Adolescents: Evaluation Of The Project 1998-1999
Implementation of the Project:
The Project started as a response to the 25th Conference of Family Ministers of member countries of the Council of Europe, which was held in June 1997 on Adolescence - a challenge for the family. The Project started with a specialised conference on Dialogue of parents and adolescents, which took place on 16 May 1998 in Bratislava on the occasion of the International Families Day.
Then a written discussion of 10 themes was commissioned - current topics for discussion between parents and adolescents - to 11 experts, most of whom are members of the Slovak Society for Family and Responsible Parenthood (July-October 1998). In November these topics were published in booklets (5,000 copies) with the same title. In spring 1999, with kind financial support from the Embassy of the Dutch Kingdom, we could commission another 2,000 copies. Our aim was that schools efficiently foster dialogue between parents and their adolescent children. That is why we supplied 2,000 copies to the Slovak Council of Parents' Associations and 2,500 copies to the Methodological Centre Bratislava II whose Ethical Education Department has accreditation for training teachers of ethical education.
The Slovak Council of Parents' Associations distributed the booklet to its affiliates at about 1,600 Slovak schools. This organisation also informed its members about the Project Dialogue of Parents and Adolescents at its assemblies, which are held annually in three Slovak towns. There was opportunity to give information and speak about the aims of the Project to parent organisation representatives at the assembly in Trnava in spring 1999. Information was also published in the ‘Rodiovské noviny’ (Parents' Paper). Schools that accepted the Project evaluated it in issue 1/2000 and ordered the booklet for a large number of parents. The teachers' and educationists' community was informed about the Project through ‘Učiteľské noviny’ (Teachers' Paper). We got the directory of educational and psychological counselling centres (42) and offered each a copy of the booklet. The response was poor. That is why we did not address the diagnostic centres as originally intended. We supplied the booklet to 37 libraries of awareness centres through the National Awareness Centre, and to 16 regional training centres through the Self-Government Training Foundation. I myself had the opportunity to inform one of such centres in Nitra about the Project. The city part Bratislava ‘Staré mesto’ (the Old Town) ordered 50 booklets and offered them to parents at a working seminar on families with many children (20 March 2000). The Ecumenical Council of Churches ordered 200 copies for a conference on family. The Bishops' Conference Commission for family pastoral activities and the Commission for catechistic activities ordered 40 and 300 copies, respectively. The National Health Support Centre designed a project of preparing Roma children, leaving school earlier than grades 8 or 9, for marriage and family life. They addressed our 2 experts and asked them to participate in drafting methodological materials for their project, and they also ordered 200 copies of the booklet Dialogue of Parents and Adolescents. We supplied the booklet to our member and co-operating organisations and working groups (6 of 24) involved in field activities with parents or children (80 copies). We used the opportunity of any specialised event on family, family members or issues, and offered the booklet to the participants. The most recent event of this kind was the seminar of the Slovak Postgraduate Medical Academy in Košice (16-17 March 2000) where we could offer 140 copies. Another 500 copies were distributed at specialised seminars, in particular those held by the National Family Studies Centre, and at our own events. Almost 1 thousand copies were supplied to individual persons at spiritual conventions of families (e.g. Mariapoli of the Focolare movement). Persons who ordered more than 100 copies got a 50% percent discount from the price, in line with our Constitution, i.e. Sk10 per copy. Our members, individual persons at spiritual conventions, and all above mentioned and other institutions got the booklets for free.
Stage four of the Project, originally scheduled for autumn 1999, is still pending. We plan a working conference intended to present and evaluate the outcome of thus organised dialogue of parents with their adolescent children in school premises.
Contact: Ing. Terézia Lenczová, President, Slovak Society for Family and Responsible Parenthood, Puškinova 1, 81104 Bratislava, Slovak Republic, Phone: 421-7-547 745 43.

RECENT AND FORTHCOMING EVENTS

International Commission On Marriage And Interpersonal Relations ‘What Produces Change? The Forces Impacting On Relationships’
Berlin, Germany, 7-10 May 2000
Policy makers and practitioners, representatives of NGOs and of governments, and individuals, from 30 countries world-wide met to discuss changes in relationships, in families and in societies, and how social policy, and social, counselling and therapeutic work can respond to these. All change involves loss. The processes by which we succeed in or fail to accommodate loss are quite well understood but often societies do not take account of the fact that individuals and families involved in change need time and resources to engage in those processes. Is it possible to educate for change in relationships? To increase the individual's resilience or tolerance of change? The encouragement to be 'private' obstructs efforts to provide networks offering support in times of change. The increasing pace of change in societies, politics, economies and in the technologies confronts families with the need for more and quicker change. This places time pressures on individuals and growing demands on personal and family resources. Societies need more and better systems which are supportive of those involved in change in relationships. The awareness that the conference had dealt with many cultural, political and economic differences faced by families around the world only served to emphasise how much individuals of all peoples had in common in terms of basic needs when family relationships are considered and when dealing with change within them.
For further information on keynote papers and workshops in English, German and French (copies of the conference report from July)
Contact: ICMIR General Secretary Gerlind Richards, Phone/Fax: 44-20-8663 0445, Email: Richards@icmir.fsnet.co.uk

Third European Congress ‘Significance Of The Family In The New Millennium’
Prague, Czech Republic, 2-6 August 2000
Held by the International Confederation of Christian Family Movements (ICCFM). During these four days the above theme was discussed. The venue of the congress was well designed to cater for families from East & West European countries. As such participants from Czech Rep., Slovak Rep., Hungary, Ukraine, Croatia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, France, Italy, Spain, Malta took part. There were also delegations from U.S.A., Thailand, & Costa Rica. While main speakers shed enlighted ideas on the main theme in relation to the "Old Continent" and major turbulence and recovery, the ideas of all participants of all participants in the four workshops were most interesting. Though the views were very broad from each section of the Continent, and very localised, yet common denominators were very clear such as: 
a)	The Christian historical background which once distinguished the continent of Europe.
b)	Conflicting ideas creating confusions in the modern European Society, the ideology of Communisim, Atheism, Materialism and Consumerism, Poverty, Families victims of political changes.
The spectrum given was indeed wide and so were the important values in families, which may influence a better society in the New Millennium. On top were faithfulness, trust, sacrifice, altruism, co-operation, roots and tradition giving identity, respect to life, mutual understanding and good relationship among generations, social justice and balance of wealth. 
Contact: Tony and Lily Gauci, International Confederation of Christian Family Movements (ICCFM), Email: gaucia@maltanet.net

ISPCAN 2000 International Congress On Child Abuse And Neglect
Durban, South Africa, 3-6 September 2000
The South African Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (SASPCAN) is organising the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect's international congress with the theme, Implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Myth or Reality. Subtopics include: prevention and protection including the concept of 'good enough parenting'; children and violence, including child refugees and children affected by war; children affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS; child labour and child sex workers; children and poverty; justice, legislation, and law enforcement in the field of child protection; culture and context in relation to children's rights; offender management, including child, adolescent and adult offenders; medical issues in child abuse and neglect. 
Further information: The South African Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, c/- Private Bag X37, Greyville 4023, Durban, South Africa; Julie Todd, SASPCAN President, or Musa Mbanjwa, SASPCAN Chair, Fax: 61-27-3131 29441, Email: delegates@dbn.lia.net, Web: www.saspcan.org.za, Conference Web: home.global.co.za/~pvandyk

Seminar: Women, Human Rights, Culture And Tradition
Brighton, United Kingdom, 10-15 September 2000
Directed by Georgina Ashworth.
Since the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, there has been far greater recognition both that human rights are to be lived daily, in private as well as in public, and that 'non-state actors' can, and do, violate human rights. However, contradictions and conflicts remain between many social customs, including accepted traditions of male dominance, and the actual exercise of these rights. This seminar will explore these through presentations on new programmes initiated to combat them, case studies from participants, and small group discussions.
This seminar will be of interest to those women and men committed to working for the advancement of women. They will be at senior or middle policy-making levels in a range of settings including NGOs, government, human rights organisations and commissions, legal practices and universities. 
For further information: Information Manager, International Networking Events, The British Council, 1, Beaumont Place, Oxford OX1 2PJ, United Kingdom, Phone: 44-1865-316 636, Fax: 44-1865-557 368 or 516 590, Email: network.events@britishcouncil.org

V Conferencia Iberoamericana Sobre La Familia
Madrid, Spain, 19-22 September 2000
Contact: 4837, rue Boyer, bureau 110, Montreal, Quebec H2J 3E6, Canada, Phone: 1-514-527 8435, Fax: 1-514-527 8816, Web: www.families.org

Seminar On Peace Education: Rising To The Challenge Of Children’s Rights
Buntingford, Hertfordshire; 15-20 October 2000 
Directed by David Woollcombe and Rosemary Simonds, Peace Child International
Peace, respect, tolerance and an ability to appreciate radical and ethic diversity are the essence of good citizenship. Drawing from the fruits of recent British Government initiatives on Citizenship Education, this seminar will explore a variety of innovative approaches to peace education in the UK and around the world. 
In the context of the start of the Decade of the Culture of Peace, we shall examine how peace education can meet and promote the goals of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). We shall also review the achievements of the CRC in the ten years since its entry into International law. The seminar will discuss the most effective ways to deliver these educational messages which too often fall outside formal curricula but which lay the foundations on which a stable and secure society must be built. The main topics will include: 
•	How to fit Peace and Children’s Rights education into an already crowded curriculum 
•	Protection, Provision and Partnership – an exploration of the three components of the CRC 
•	Convention of the Rights of the Child – ten years on 
•	Peace Education – innovative methods, experiences, tried and tested methods that work 
•	Review of available Peace Education resource materials 
•	Education on the United Nations – a UK and a US perspective 
•	What is ‘a Culture of Peace’ and how do you generate it? 
•	Harnessing the arts in the service of peace education – music, theatre, dance, graphics, etc. (The seminar will include attendance at a live Peace Musical) 
•	Turning disadvantage into advantage – working with children in ‘particularly difficult circumstances...’ 
•	Peace Education in the domestic arena: dealing with bullying, racism, violent language etc. 
The programme will be of particular interest to education administrators, curriculum planners and officials involved with young people at every level of government. 
For further information, please contact: Information Manager, International Networking Events, The British Council, 1, Beaumont Place, Oxford, OX1 2PJ, United Kingdom, Phone: 44-1865-316 636, Fax: 44-1865-557 368 / 516 590, E-mail: network.events@britishcouncil.org

International Conference On Adolescent Health 
London, United Kingdom, 19-20 October 2000
The British Society for Adolescent Health and Welfare (previously the Youth Support Forum on Adolescent Health and Welfare) announce the 15th Annual Meeting and Third Youth Support Conference. Workshop topics will include: education and employment; youth and violence; youth and family; drop outs and street kids; rave and party drugs; kids in care; eating disorders; teenage pregnancy; self harming behaviour; teenage sexuality; sexual abuse; sexual orientation. 
Further information: Youth Support Conference Secretariat, 13 High Street, Penge, London SE20 7HJ, United Kingdom, Phone: 44-181-325 8162, Fax: 44-181-325 8647, Email: lisa@youthsupport.demon.co.uk

Visions for Families: Continuity and Change Across Cohorts and Generations
Minneapolis USA, 8-13 November 2000
The National Council on Family Relations has been the leading non-partisan, non-denominational membership organisation for family researchers, educators, policy makers, and practising professionals for over 60 years. 
Further information: National Council on Family Relations, 3989 Central Avenue NE, Suite 550, Minneapolis, MN 55421, USA, Phone: 1-612-781-9331, Fax: 1-612-781-9348, Web: http://www.ncfr.org/

Congress For The Asian Continent ‘Participation In Jesus' Mission Of Love And Service In Asia’
Tagaytay City, Philippines, 10-12 November 2000
Contact: Tony and Lily Gauci, International Confederation of Christian Family Movements (ICCFM), Email: gaucia@maltanet.net

Violence In The Family - Plan Of Action For The 21st Century
Nicosia, Cyprus, 26-30 November 2000 
This international conference, which will be organised by the Cyprus Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family, the University of Cyprus and an International Committee, will be under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order of Cyprus. Deadline for abstracts is 30 June 2000. 
Further information: Pyrgos Congress, PO Box 25307, Nicosia 1308, Cyprus. Email: pyrgos.com@cytanet.com.cy. Web: http://www.familyviolence.org.cy 

Second National And International Conference On Child Abuse And Neglect, Women Empowerment And Social Development
Accra, Ghana, 11-12 March 2001
African Peace Network International, an NGO with special status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC), wishes to announce its plan of holding this conference and to invite interested people world-wide to participate in this special event. Scholarships are available for 50 participants.
Contact: African Peace Network (APNET INT), Conference Secretariat, P.O. Box DC297, Dansoman-Accra, Ghana, Phone: 233-21-245 064/233 008, Fax: 233-21-500 617/222 745, Email: apnet@hotmail.com

International Conference ‘Families In Transition - Counselling In Transition - Meeting The Challenges Ahead’
Mumbai - Lonavla, India, 30 May - 2 June 2001
Organised by the World Conference of the International Association for Counselling (incorporating the International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling).
At the dawn of this new millennium, individuals and families face many challenges due to the rapid, profound and dramatic changes which have swept through the whole economic, political, social and cultural fabric of nations round the world. In these changing times, Counselling has a major role to play in bringing peace to troubled minds and troubled lives and contributing to the social wellbeing of individuals, families and societies. 
The 2001 world conference of the IAC will focus on Families in transition as they respond to the pressures of globalisation, technological advances, political destabilisation and attacks on democratic processes, religious, resurgence and ethnic conflicts. Some of these changes such as increasing mobility within and across nations have no doubt generated new opportunities for individuals and families, and contributed to an improved quality of life. However, for many more individuals and families it has also generated new risks and created stress, anxiety and alienation, as it has also created scattered families, loosened family ties and weakened inter-personal relationships between family members. Some times it has forced family restructuring. 
Counselling is also in transition as it attempts to reorient itself to a changing society and to widen its scope in order to respond to the growing ethnic and cultural diversity among families. Counsellors will need to review their ideological and ethical bases, their theoretical approaches, techniques and skills and reposition themselves so as to cater more effectively to the changing needs of families as well as the complex challenges of advancing the human rights and wellbeing of all its members as well as protect and promote the family unit’s right with reference to its environment. 
While Counselling is well established and has recognition and status in developed countries, in many developing countries like India, professional counselling is a recent innovation. Therefore, it is very appropriate that at the beginning of this century an international conference is being organised in a developing country in the Asian region. It is hoped that this Conference will give impetus to the development of training and practice in counselling within India, the host country and hopefully within Asia, South-East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. 
The Working Group Themes are:
1)	Counselling families affected by socio-political, economic changes within society (families affected by displacement, war, economic hardships). 
2)	Human Rights and Alternate Family Structures: Implications for Counselling (gay and lesbian families, open living arrangements, single parenthood).
3)	Responding to environmental and systemic crisis and emergencies affecting families. 
4)	Counselling for the protection of rights of families of minority groups (families facing religious and ethnic intolerance and social stigma).
5)	Counselling for reproductive health rights (sexual health information, issues related to cultural beliefs). 
6)	Counselling related to physical and mental disabilities.
7)	Counselling families affected by life threatening diseases (HIV Aids, Cancer etc.).
8)	Marriage and intimate relationship counselling. 
9)	Counselling families affected by domestic violence (spouse abuse, child abuse, elderly abuse). 
10)	Developmental counselling towards family life enrichment. 
11)	Counselling for the nutritional health of families and communities. 
12)	Counselling for children’s rights in reconstituted families (issues faced by adopted children, children in foster family case, children of remarriages, children in crime affected families). 
Delegates are invited to submit abstracts of papers for presentation in a Working Group. All papers must be in English. Presentation of papers in working groups may not exceed 10 minutes in length and will be followed by discussion. Presenters are requested to send in an abstract (maximum 150 words) before 1 January 2001 to: Dr. Lina Kashyap, Conference Co-ordinator, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, P.O. Box 8313, Sion-Trombay Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India. 

Pre-Conference Event: International Research Seminar
Fariyas Hotel, Lonavla, India, 29 May 2001
Social scientists and helping professionals sharing in multicultural research, contributing to basic knowledge and helping to better services to those in need. The 12th annual International Research Seminar (IRS) is planned as a pre-conference event to be held in conjunction with the 29 May – 2 June 2001 International Conference of the IAC in Lonavla, India. All delegates of the International Conference are invited to participate. 
For those unfamiliar with the Seminar, the IRS is a multinational group of social scientists and help-providers affiliated with IAC who have met annually since 1988 at IAC meetings to design and collaborate in conducting cross-national research. We work together on all aspects of our studies – from research design to publication of our findings. Seminar sessions are devoted to group planning of research design. Participants conduct the studies in their home countries and work together to interpret results, maintaining contact between Seminars through mail, email, phone and fax. Multi-authored IRS studies have been published in international journals, international scientific book series and other publications. 
To ensure your place at the 2001 Seminar, please indicate your interest in the IAC registration form included in this prospectus. If you have your own research plans and wish to solicit IRS collaborations, if you have questions about the Seminar, or if you simply want more information about our activities or publications, please contact the address below. You don’t have to be a trained researcher! 
Contact: IAC - TISS Conference 2001 Secretariat, Prof. Lina Kashyap, PhD, Dept. of Family and Child Welfare, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India, Phone: 91-22-556 32 90, Fax: 91-22-556 29 12, Email: linakash@tiss.edu, IAC Web: http://www.edu.sfu.ca/iac and Dr. Courtland Lee, Secretary IAC, and IRS Registrar, The Dean, School of Education, Hunter College of the City, University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, 1000W, New York NY 10021, USA.

VIII World Assembly And XII General Assembly Of The International Confederation Of Christian Family Movements
Maceio, State of Alagoas, Brazil, 25-29 July 2001
Theme: Ethics of life in a globalised and excluding world.
Contact: Tony and Lily Gauci, International Confederation of Christian Family Movements (ICCFM), Email: gaucia@maltanet.net

PUBLICATIONS

Families And The World Of Work
The Family Unit of DSPD has prepared a study entitled Families and the World of Work, which will be published in due course as a sales publication (ST/ESA/272). The study is based on four case studies, covering Argentina, Egypt, India and the Netherlands, which are presented as examples of how the goals of fostering a comprehensive approach to family and work policies can be enhanced. The study offers policy makers an opportunity to learn from the activities and initiatives on the family undertaken in these countries.
Contact: Amr Ghaleb, Phone: 1-212-963 3238, Fax: 1-212-963 3062, Email: ghaleb@un.org

The Global Situation Of Youth 2000: Profiles, Trends And Prospects
Two special issues of the United Nations Youth Information Bulletins
The Youth Unit of DSPD is preparing a three-volume reference publication on The Global Situation of Youth 2000: Profiles, Trends and Prospects which will be published as a sales publication. Also in preparation are the reports of the two regional youth forums, which will be published as special issues of the United Nations Youth Information Bulletins.
Contact: William Angel, Phone: 1-212-963 1380, Fax: 1-212-963 3062, Email: angelw@un.org

Overcoming The Obstacles. Looked After Children: Quality Services For Black And Minority Ethnic Children And Their Families
By Alison Richards and Lynda Ince for the Family Rights Group
This report describes a survey of local authority provision for looked after Black and minority ethnic children and their families. It highlights areas of good and poor practice from the perspectives of service providers and the young people and their families. It is hoped that the report can be used as a framework against which child-care agencies can evaluate and develop policies and procedures in relation to work with Black and minority ethnic children and their families.
Contact: Alison Richards Family Rights Group, The Print House, 18 Ashwin Street, London E8 3DL, United Kingdom, Phone: 44-20-7923 2628, Email: arichards@frg.u-net.com

PARENTS’ FORUM announces The War Against Parents, by Sylvia Ann Hewitt and Cornel West. "A parents' bill of rights calling for parents to have time to care for their children and economic security to provide for them, along with pro-family electoral and legal systems a supportive external environment (including good schooling, adequate health care and responsible media) as well as recognition and respect for the work they do." 
Contact: Houghton Mifflin Co., 222 Berkeley Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116, USA.

FAMILY POLICY, Winter 1999/2000, International View
A Revolutionary Approach To Teenage Pregnancy in Cuba
The Government of the United Kingdom has recently announced a comprehensive programme to combat teenage pregnancy. Andrea Warman finds parallels in an unexpected place - Cuba. Fidel Castro's socialist government has many critics, but even the harshest have to acknowledge that standards of health care in revolutionary Cuba have been among the best in the world. The Ministry of Public Health has been sending family doctors to the more remote, rural areas of Cuba since the early 1960s. Their task was to reduce a very high infant mortality rate through vaccination, good antenatal care and health education. The results have been dramatic: by the early 1980s, Cuba's infant mortality rate was 15th in the world and lower than in some regions of the United States. Then, in 1984, the Government introduced a new initiative that focused on health services in the urban centres. This new family doctor programme aimed to establish a system of local, accessible, primary health care. By 1990, 83 per cent of Havana's residents had a family doctor less than 15 minutes walk away.
Just over two thirds of Havana's family doctors are women, most of them in their mid-to late-20s. Those based in the inner-city neighbourhoods of Old Havana and Central Havana live in apartment blocks built in the 1980s by micro-brigades of volunteer workers. Typically the surgery is on the ground floor, the doctor and her family have the first floor flat, her practice nurse and family live above and the other occupants of the block will be the workers who built it and their relatives. The surgery is open each morning and the afternoon is sued for home visits, but most family doctors are on call for any emergency 24 hours a day. Havana's family doctors continue to be responsible for providing antenatal care and monitoring the development of very young children, as well as offering a service to adults, especially older people. They organise health education programmes and are also expected to 'live the revolution', by setting an example for their patients and neighbours.
For the past 40 years, Cuban academics and politicians have expressed concern about lone mothers, absent fathers and the high numbers of teenage mothers. The response was to give family doctors responsibility for running sex education classes for adolescents in their neighbourhood. These classes are meant to address the 'ignorance' that is seen as one of the reasons why so many Cuban women have their first child while still in their teens. Advice about contraception is also given and a termination arranged if a young woman makes this decision.
The family doctors are expected to identify young women at risk of becoming pregnant. Adolescents who are not doing well at school, those who have been involved in anti-social behaviour and the daughters of lone parents, receive additional counselling and attention from their family doctor. This takes the form mainly of group sessions, which set out to raise awareness of the opportunities available to young women in revolutionary Cuba. They will be encouraged to continue their education and to become more involved in local political activity. Some of the doctors supplement this group work by visiting the homes of teenagers and reminding parents of their responsibilities.
It is difficult to measure the impact of these methods. Official statistics are notoriously hard to come by in Cuba, but Western academics have estimated that in the 1990s two-thirds of all Cuban women were still having their first child when they were in their teens, and that a similar proportion was long mothers. This would suggest that the programme, valuable though it is, has not delivered dramatic results. This may reflect an unwillingness to confront some of the complex causes of teenage pregnancy, such as deeply rooted notions of femininity and motherhood. Equally, the authorities may be loath to address the specific problems of young black women, who are over-represented among the teenage mothers, and who may not feel part of the revolution, despite the large numbers of family doctors who are themselves black.
Given that our government has recently adopted a programme for educing teenage pregnancy that includes many of the same elements as the Cuban model, there may be parallels to draw. Clearly, established patterns of family life cannot be changed quickly, so any policy has to be long term and patient. And a top down programme, as in Cuba, that does not actively involve young people, may well have limited success.
Dr Andrea Warman is a lecturer at Brunel University (London, United Kingdom). She spent 18 months doing ethnographic fieldwork in Havana in the early 1990s and wrote her PhD thesis on the experience of socialism for Cuban women working in the health sector.

Periodicals & Magazines

Family Matters
Research journal of the Australian Institute of Family Studies - the principal means by which the Australian and international community is informed about Institute and other family-related research. It contains the latest Institute research and contributions from Australia's most respected social scientists, social policy analysts, service provider and research agencies. All research papers are subject to a formal review process. 
Contact: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 300 Queen Street, Melbourne Vic 3000, Australia, Phone: 61-3-9214 7888, Fax: 61-3-9214 7839, Web: www.aifs.org.au, Email: webmaster@aifs.org.au

Studies in Family Planning
Peer-reviewed international quarterly concerned with all aspects of reproductive health, fertility regulation, and family planning programs in both developing and developed countries. Read original research articles, reports, commentary, book reviews, and a data section with findings for individual countries from the Demographic and Health Surveys. Abstracts of journal articles and reports are also included in each issue. 
Contact: Population Council, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA, Phone: 1-212-339 0514, Fax: 1-212-755 6052, Email: pubinfo@popcouncil.org

Family Policy
Family Research Council's oldest regular publication, interprets cultural, social, and political trends through the lens of a public philosophy that seeks to strengthen family-centred mediating institutions, including marriage, extended family, neighbourhood school, and church. Each bimonthly issue features a full-length essay providing in-depth, engaging analysis of one family-related issue along with sidebars highlighting related topics. Now in its twelfth year, Family Policy has explored subjects including tax fairness for families, education policy that returns decision-making to local communities and parents, and the historical and cultural context of the sexual revolution. 
Contact: Family Research Council, 801 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA, Phone: 1-202-393 2100, Fax: 1-202-393 2134.

FEEDBACK, the ICOMP (Newsletter in English on Management of Population Programmes), 141 Jalan Dahlia, Taman Uda Jaya, 68000 Ampang, Selangor D.E., Malaysia, Phone: 60-3-457 3234, Fax: 60-3-456 0029, Email: popmgt@po.jaring.my, Web: www.icomp.org.my

SOS PAPA (Magazine in French on rights and responsibilities of fathers), 34, rue du Président Wilson, B.P. 49, F-78231 Le Pecq Cedex, France.

Positive Parenting Project, Save The Children Fund Scotland, Haymarket House, 8 Clifton Terrace, Edinburgh EH12 5DR, United Kingdom, Phone: 44-131-527 8200, Fax: 44-131-527 8201, Email: m.currie@scfuk.org.uk

COFACE Contact (a newsletter in English on family policy in Europe), Rue de Londres, 17, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium, Phone: 32-2-511-4179, Fax: 32-2-514-4773, Email: coface@email.mig.be

Newsletters, books, kits, handbooks & videos of the Family Caring Trust, 8 Ashtree Enterprise Park, Newry, County Down BT34 1BY, Republic of Ireland.

Building Family Networks in Central and Eastern European Countries, Special Issue of Families International. A compilation of family organisations. Available from: Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, Martinstrasse 92/3, A-1180 Vienna, Austria.

WFD NEWS, Publication by the World Federation of the Deaf, 13D, Chemin du Levant, F-01210 Ferney-Voltaire, France, Fax: 46-8 442 1499 (Sweden), Email: carol-lee.acquiline@wfdnews.org

Sexologia y Sociedad (Spanish). A periodical of the Centro Nacional de Educacion Sexual, Ave. 19, No. 851 esquina a 4, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolucion, Ciudad de Habana, Cuba.

INTRODUCING organizations

European Union Of Women (EUW)
The EUW is an association of Christian-democratic and conservative women’s organisations in Europe. It was founded in 1953 in Austria on the initiative of the Austrian member of Parliament, Lola Solar.

Aims:
The Union - in association with political and civic organisations - stands for the conservation of human dignity and freedom and the maintenance of the cultural heritage of Europe, as well as for the social and economic progress safeguarding the rights of the individual. The Union supports the strengthening of peace on the basis of justice and free co-operation of the people of Europe and the world. These fundamental principles shall be released through the strengthening and deepening of the influence of women on political and civic life in European nations and in European and international organisations. It is a special responsibility of the Union to establish and increase contacts between women of all European nations. 

Organisation and Structure:
The structure comprises:
	General Assembly
	Council
	Executive Committee
In addition, there are commissions relating to the following subjects:
•	Culture, Science and Education
•	Economics and Employment
•	Environment, Local Government and Regional Planning
•	Family and Social Affairs
•	Food and Agriculture
•	Health
•	Information and Massmedia
•	International Policy
•	Judicial
•	Refugees, Migrants and Demography

There is also a Political Commission consisting of the chairpersons of all national sections. The Union at present comprises 18 national sections, i.e. European member countries.

Activities:
Commission works on workshops on topics of common and political interest.
EUW is in close contact with the Council of Europe (consultative status), the European Parliament, the United Nations, the European Democrat Union, the European Peoples Party, he Union of Christian Democratic Women, the International Democrat Union and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Contact: Emmy Schwarzl, European Union of Women (EUW), Lichtenfelsgasse 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria, Phone: 43-1-40 126 651, Fax: 43-1-40 662 45.

COFACE: A Programme For The Coming Years
COFACE is an alliance of family organisations working in 14 EU countries and 1 associated country. For 40 years, it has been involving families in European integration: informing, building awareness, acting as their voice. Its main activities are advocacy on the family dimension of European policies, and forging close co-operation between member associations. Because of that, it demands a rightful hearing in the European debates on families and calls on the European Parliament and on the European Commission for their effective support for its role as the spokesperson and platform for voicing families' rights and concerns.

Jobs: a priority
Having a job is an essential factor of social inclusion: it is also a vital source of family income. There are two key priorities for families in the present debate on the future of work:
•	better balance between work and family responsibilities for both men and women;
•	developing personal services and community enterprises: they have a real - though limited - impact on jobs;

Fundamental social rights
The ‘Comité des Sages’ report at the European Social Policy Forum in 1996 proposed that a certain number of rights be recognised. Various initiatives have followed this report. The European Council meeting in Tampere in October this year finalises a procedure for the drafting of a European Bill of Rights which should be presented at the European Summit of December 2000 in Paris. COFACE insists that, in accordance with the conclusions of the Cologne Council meeting, the representatives of the various groups concerned be involved in the drafting of this Bill.

Social protection
The family-related aspects of national social protection systems have been falling behind for several years now. Family organisations want:
•	universal family benefits granted on entitlement rules which reflect national situations, but guarantee that all children will receive child benefit payments and health care cover;
•	better childcare provision, family welfare services, integrated home care, to complement cash benefits;
•	work to start on long-term care insurance for older persons, based on solidarity between generations, combining social protection with family care;
•	progressively replacing derived rights - which are often lost in family breakdowns - with individual rights in social protection systems.

Families: organised consumers
Families are concerned about many issues:
•	Food safety is currently the most important concern of consumers: they feel trapped and without defence facing a series of scandals and disasters, which have hit the food, sector these recent years.
For COFACE, an independent European Food Safety Agency, co-ordinated at local, regional, national and European levels would be the best body to control the entire food chain in Europe with all the necessary guarantees.
•	CAP reform is essential and must address both economic and social concerns. Community aid should be tied to environmental and food safety concerns, not how much is produced;
•	general interest services, whether economic (postal services, communications, gas and electricity,...), health or education, must remain effectively within the reach of all consumers, especially in the present context of market liberalisation;
•	more must be done to help families become environmentally aware consumers. Here, full development of the European eco‑label is important. Its single label must leave consumers in no doubt that the product concerned meets the standards set; 
•	food labelling must chiefly aim to provide consumers with much-needed information. They want to know not only about freshness dates, ingredients and storage requirements, but also nutritional values, possible sources of allergies, and new processes used to produce or preserve the food;
•	the consumer credit directive needs adapting specifically to prevent consumers falling hopelessly into debt.

People with disabilities and their families
The Amsterdam Treaty provides that within the limits of the European Union’s powers, the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on disability. This directly concerns families, who demand additional action, not least through: 
•	developing structures, services and social infrastructure appropriate to the needs of people with disabilities and their families;
•	promoting their autonomy and access to information and communication;
•	training for the players involved: people with disabilities, their parents, brothers and sisters, education and health professionals.
•	respect for personal choices and combating all forms of discrimination, especially towards the most seriously disabled people.

Education and continuing training
Education and training not just during childhood and youth but life-long. COFACE believes that:
•	the family’s responsibility and role in children’s education must be expressly recognised;
•	the Treaty’s emphasis on quality education requires a holistic approach, including pre-school education;
•	free movement of families in the Union would be eased by improved recognition of equivalent levels of study, including primary and secondary, as well as diplomas and other qualifications.
•	the role of family organisations in adult education should be recognised and promoted at European level;
•	family organisations must be involved as partners in European consultations and in the different educational programmes and initiatives developed out of them.

Families: children and parents
Problem families and the all-too-frequent reports of child abuse, grab the headlines; and yet the vast majority of children grow up in a loving and secure family environment; there is no doubt that action is needed to eliminate all abuses of children’s rights, but also to provide more support to families facing difficulties.
Family organisations call the European authorities’ attention to two pressing problems where they have power to act:
•	bi-national family breakdowns: the Brussels II Convention settled some procedural issues, but left many other questions unresolved as regards custody, visiting rights, and sharing of parental authority;
•	family reunion: reform of both European and national legislation and administrative procedures is essential to guarantee everyone - especially young people and elderly persons - an effective right to family life.

Public health
The Amsterdam Treaty provides that a high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Community policies and activities. Family organisations want the emphasis at European level to be put on:
•	the widest access to quality health care for all, which means no two-tier medical treatment;
•	the co-ordinated development of general prevention policies, especially for children;
•	education in healthier living, especially the dangers of smoking and drinking;
•	continuing European programmes against cancer, AIDS, drug abuse;
•	regular consultations with organisations representing the public, including COFACE.

Housing and the living environment
The housing sector is suffering from public and private under-investment and tax discrimination. That has created a rented housing shortage, which is holding back occupational mobility, and giving rise to inner-city ghettos. To reverse this situation, family organisations demand:
•	European Structural Funds intervention in social and equivalent housing policy;
•	closing of the tax gap between investments in stocks and shares, and real property.

For equal opportunities in practice
Equal opportunities is not just about equality between men and women, although that remains a key objective in the workplace, in social rights, and in the home.

Equal opportunities means social inclusion for all: children, parents, and older people. It means fighting against all the forms of discrimination and exclusion, which still affect too many European citizens today. It means extending the sphere of individual empowerment and promoting social inclusion for all in practice.
It also means helping all categories of citizens to have a real hand in the European project by giving them ways to make their voices heard: Europe’s support is vital for COFACE to attain that aim.

Taken from: COFACE Contact, Special Issue October 1999. COFACE is an alliance of family organisations working in 14 EU countries and 1 associated country. For 40 years, it has been involving families in European integration: informing, building awareness, acting as their voice etc. Its main activities are advocacy on the family dimension of European policies, and forging close co-operation between member associations. Because of that, it demands a rightful hearing in the European debates on families and calls on the European Parliament and on the European Commission for their effective support for its role as the spokesperson and platform for voicing families’ rights and concerns.
Contact: William Lay, COFACE, rue de Londres, 17, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium, Phone: 32-2-511.41.79, Fax: 32-2-514.47.73, Email: coface@email.mig.be

Projects of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family are supported by:

•	Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Bäuerinnen in Niederösterreich
•	Austrian Federal Government 
•	Bank Austria
•	Creditanstalt Bankverein
•	European Commission
•	Government of Germany
•	Government of Liechtenstein
•	Government of Luxembourg
•	Government of Spain, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands
•	INGOs
•	Niederösterreichische Landesregierung
•	Niederösterreichische Versicherungs AG
•	OMV
•	Rotary International
•	United Nations Trust Fund on Family Activities

THE Vienna NGO Committee on the Family WILL BE HAPPY TO FORWARD CONTACT ADDRESSES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON NOTICES IN THIS ISSUE.

“Families International” an information-sharing bulletin published by:
Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, Martinstrasse 92/3, A-1180 Vienna, Austria, Phone/Fax: 43-1-405 89 01, Email: famcom.vienna@utanet.at 
Printed by in-house duplication. The views published do not necessarily reflect the views of the members of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family. 
Editors: Editorial Committee: Peter Crowley, Eva Matt, Winston Sims.
Co-Editors: Eva Matt, Winston Sims.
Layout: Sabine Führer.

SPECIAL FEATURE:
World Summit For Social Development And Beyond