Family: A Place Where "Human Rights' Values" meet Peace and Human Development

Conference on "Family Values and their link to Economic Well-being and Social Outcomes"June 30- July 1, 2014

United Nations, Geneva

The "Value" and the "Values" of Families?"

• “Let us strive to strengthen these small but critical units found in every society so that we may advance as one human family toward greater progress”

• "Strong, well-functioning families, whatever form they may take, can help reduce poverty, improve the wellbeing of mothers, promote gender equality and uphold human rights”

Bann Ki Moon on 20th Anniversary of International Day of Families. May 15, 2014

A Look at Family

• Oddly, many international mechanisms skip “Family”; jumping from "Individual" to "Community".

• At same time UN Charter, many International documents refer to “Human Family” as ultimate goal.

• Some signals of new focus on Family, not only as a concern of governments, but as a resource

• What kind of Family can be that Microcosm of a Culture of Peace?

What is a Healthy Family?• A citizen is considered healthy when he/she is not a burden,

but a contributor to the whole..talents, experience, time, etc. (Ecology)

• Similarly, families are assets when they are bequeathing the benefits of their environment to the community around them and Values learned and lived in families should guide members to seek to be contributors

• Families consumed with needs of self maintenance need "protection" because they aren't living up to their potential of providing greater value

• Some modern trends in family form although they may be "real", they cannot be seen as optimal.

• We can build Culture of Peace only when there is an incentive to greater cohesion at each level.

Historic First HRC Resolution on "Protection of Family" June 26, 2014

• Reaffirming that the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection .. (Article 19 UDHR)

• Reaffirming that States have the primary responsibility to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all humans

• Recognizing that the family has the primary responsibility for the nurturing and protection of children… (who) should grow up in a family environment and in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding

• Convinced that the family, as .. the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities within the community

Critics of the resolution say:

• "Family" (a group vs. the individuals in that group) should not be a subject of human rights protection

• Human rights abuses occur within families, perpetrated against individual family members, who should be protected

• Why no lengthy list of "modern forms" of families included?

Response to the critics

• Families very important units of society.., as are ethnicities and nations- all of which receive specific recognition and support.

• Yes, HR abuses occur in families, but would it not be wiser to think that if better protected, the family could withstand attacks against its integrity instead of denying families protection.– Individual members of families are protected under other provisions.

• As not mentioned in UDHR, implying "whatever form they may take" is not excluding any, but focusing on the entity as in UDHR.

Relationship between Protection of Family and Promotion of Family

• "Victims" are seen and treated as weak. Weak and broken families are a drain on all types of resources

• "Mobilizing the world’s families" has protection as a side effect.

• Empowered families are a resource of nations and have an incredible resilience and capacity to defend and absorb against attacks.

Evolution of Human Rights Concepts…and how families are important

Righ

tsD

uties

From Basic Rights...(CP /ESC)

to Development...•Infrastructure, •personal even spiritual

to Peace... to Prosperity,Happiness

Simply avoid infringing on another’s rights

Contribute actively to ensurethat these rights are applied

Create a Culture of people who do not need constant convincing of this

If each Human Right is fulfilled, will we have created a Culture of Peace?

…only when healthy families are there to facilitate

• Need incentive about "Duties"-without legal artificial enforcement

• Need a built-in values-framework that allows that to happen naturally,

• Need a network of interdependence and a dignified role for each member of the global family,

• Need women to be encouraged to see themselves as leaders and nurturers in the global framework as they do in families

Rooted in the norms of Family Values and Experience of "Family Peace"

• Individuals within families are doubly protected and promoted:– as members of a cohesive unit (family) that teaches self

survival – and contribution to a larger whole.

• Cannot just skip a step and expect stability

• Without the family as a stepping stone, individuals are without protection and without incentive

Teaching Human Rights Values in Families: U.D.H.R. Article 25- Right to Food

Article 29 Duties to the Communitydiscovered through responsibility to other family members

• Learning advocacy for goodness is how we find our own goodness: Empathy

• Freedom is when everyone appreciates the talents and resources of others and contributes their own for the betterment of the world around them

• Fulfilling our duties to others is the joy of life

We propose a new framework for peace… Famili-archy |ˈfam(ə)lē ˌärkē|

• A system of society in which the family unit is the nexus; parents, children, and extended family members cooperate according to their interdependent roles to enhance each member value

• They contribute as a whole and as individual members to the development of larger community. ..becoming an intertwined network of empowered families

• Expanding naturally to an inclusive system of government in which men and women share responsibility similar to the way that parents guide and nurture their children, taking into consideration advice and active involvement by family elders.

Inspired by Unification Principles of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Gender Roles and Leadership

Models for gender roles and sharing leadership between mother and father impact children

• Weakened families disrupt gender roles: – domestic violence and its affect on

father/son relations, authority, expectation in personal relations, etc.)

• Readjust those roles to current trends - or set the Optimum as our goal and work on Prevention?

As: "Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his(her) personality is possible".(Article 29: UDHR)

….so too are families empowered and ennobled.