The UN General Assembly (UN GA) adopted a resolution during its 68th Session, proposed by Fiji on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, on Preparations for and observance of the twentieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family (A/RES/68/136). Particularly worth noting is the decision by the UN GA to devote one plenary meeting during the 69th session in 2014 to this topic, “in order to discuss the role of family-oriented policies in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda”. The resolution also encourages Member States “to strengthen provisions for parental leave, extend flexible working arrangements for employees with family responsibilities, promote gender equality and the empowerment of women, enhance paternal involvement in family responsibilities and support a wide range of quality childcare arrangements, including investing in quality early childhood care and education, in order to improve work-family balance.”
This anniversary and the plenary meeting will provide important opportunities to stress the importance of family strengthening and family based care for children, although there are already concerns expressed by some Member States in their statements after the adoption of the resolution that this occasion should not be hijacked by government representatives keen on re-defining the concept of ‘family’ in a narrow and discriminatory way.
