World Family Policy Center News
5/13/02
Volume 1, Issue 6
The following excerpts are highlights of current events and do not
necessarily represent the views of the World Family Policy Center or Brigham
Young University.
FROM THE WORLD FAMILY POLICY CENTER
SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN CONCLUDES AT UN
The UN Special Session on Children concluded
Friday, May 10, with countries clearly divided over what constitutes “the best
interests of the child.” A block of
countries, notably the European Union and Canada, supported language in the
outcome document that would have advanced rights of sexual expression and
abortion for adolescents. The proposed
language would also have weakened the status of the family in national cultures
and diminished the role of family in a child’s life. The United States, Muslim countries, and most of the Latin
American countries staunchly and successfully resisted such efforts. The final Outcome Document contains the
following statement at paragraph 15.
"The family is the basic unit of
society and as such should be strengthened.
It is entitled to receive comprehensive protection and
support. The primary responsibility for
the protection, upbringing and development of children rests with the
family. All institutions of society
should respect children’s rights and secure their well-being and render
appropriate assistance to parents, families, legal guardians and other
caregivers so that children can grow and develop in a safe and stable
environment and in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding, bearing
in mind that in different cultural, social and political systems, various forms
of the family exist."
While it is not all that might have been hoped, this paragraph
emphasizes the important role of parents and the family in a child’s life and
was considered a victory in the struggle over the family’s place in culture and
in the future of any society.
A New York Regional World Congress of Families meeting was held May 3
and 4, the weekend prior to the Special Session on Children. Speakers
emphasized the overwhelming statistics which support the conclusion that strong
marriages and strong families have far better outcomes for children than
alternative arrangements. Janet Museveni, the first lady of Uganda, described
her efforts in her country to educate citizens and children that sexual
abstinence is the only sure means of halting the spread of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic sweeping through much of Africa. Since this public program began
several years ago, Uganda has experienced a noteworthy decline in HIV/AIDS
infection, particularly among the youth of that country.
For more information on the World Congress of
Families New York meeting, visit the United Families International website
at www.unitedfamilies.org .
IN THE NEWS
DIPLOMATS URGED TO BACK FAMILIES, TEEN ABSTINENCE (click
to read the full article)
By George Archibald, The Washington Times
NEW YORK — More than 300 leaders of pro-family groups pleaded with diplomats at
the United Nations yesterday to reaffirm marriage and promote sexual abstinence
among teen-agers.
"The young person who has trained to be disciplined will, in the final
analysis, survive better than the one who has been instructed to wear a piece
of rubber and continue with 'business as usual,'" Mrs. Museveni told a
World Congress of Families meeting on the eve of the General Assembly's Special
Session on Children, which formally [began] Wednesday...
"When we fail to tell our children that there are limitations to human
freedom, for example, that there can be no freedom to hurt another human being;
when we fail to teach our young that there are some moral absolutes and they
must reckon with them or perish, then we do grievous harm to the future of the
human race," said the wife of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
U.S., EUROPE CLASH AT CHILD SUMMIT (click
to read the full article)
By George Archibald, The Washington Times
NEW YORK — European leaders at the United Nations Child Summit yesterday
accused the U.S. delegation of being "intransigent" on hot-button
cultural issues.
Health
and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, who is leading the U.S.
delegation, stood firm in private meetings yesterday in the face of strong
European objections to U.S. positions on child abortion, redefinition of the
family and capital punishment.
AT THE UN
WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY OPENS ANUAL MEETING IN GENEVA
(Click to read the full article)
13 May
– The
health of people across the globe is increasingly being imperiled by behaviours
such as smoking, poor hygiene and the consumption of fatty foods, the
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.
UNICEF CHIEF SAYS PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN IN SPECIAL SESSION
MADE HISTORY (Click to read the full
article)
10 May – The participation of young people in the General Assembly's special session on children marked an
historic departure from past conferences and enlivened the event with fresh
perspectives, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today as the three-day meeting
entered its final stretch.
ANNAN REGRETS US DECISION NOT TO RATIFY INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL
COURT STATUTE (Click to read the full
article)
8 May – A spokesman for United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that the Secretary-General
regretted the United States decision not to ratify the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court (ICC), which was officially communicated to the UN
on Monday.
"Still,
with 66 Member States having ratified the Statute, the Court will become a
reality on 1 July," spokesman Fred Eckhard said, adding that its creation
was a long-term investment in international justice.
In a related
development, an expert of the UN Commission on Human Rights said today that by
its unprecedented action of "unsigning" the ICC's Statute, the United
States has effectively forfeited its leadership role in the search for justice
and protection of the rule of law and human rights in the international sphere.
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