General Assembly Plenary in Observance of Tenth Anniversary of the International Year of the Family 

General Assembly Session 59, Meeting 67

6 December 2004

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See

My delegation is delighted to take the floor at the conclusion of the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family. Further, this commemoration is taking place at the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly, which is now considering two priorities of the world today: security and development.

Our debates and programmes are focused on the concept of security in the broad sense of the term, encompassing what, in United Nations parlance, are called direct threats, such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and secondary threats, such as unemployment, poverty, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the exploitation of children and women and limited access to housing, healthcare facilities, education and medicines, which all affect human society as a whole in daily life.

Given that the predicted indices of poverty and inequality, which continue to worsen in many countries, are far from encouraging, it is no surprise that reducing poverty is now a top priority on the development agenda. In that context, my delegation expresses its support for the family, which is the basic unit of society by nature and as a result of the vital contribution it is called upon to make in ensuring security and development.

The family, more specifically, the lasting and stable union between a man and a woman, seems the most natural and the most suitable way to ensure procreation and, consequently, the renewal of the generations. Economic growth requires a minimum of demographic growth, achieved through reproduction, which ensures that past generations are replaced. Beyond such demographic considerations, we should recall that it is within that primary natural community of the family that individuals acquire a number of qualities, areas of knowledge and attitudes that enable them one day to be productive and thus constructive creators of society. It is not simply a question of bringing children into the world but of rearing them well. The economic concept of human capital is especially relevant here. As the primary place where human capital is shaped, the family is truly indispensable to development. It is therefore important to make available all the tools necessary to ensure just recognition of the fact that the family is not simply the centre of consumption but also where genuine wealth is created. That fact is not fully appreciated today.

However, there can be no action in favour of families without first creating the real political will to promote a model. In particular, the expression "the basic unit of society" refers to the precise concept of social order based on the existence of stable communities of people. That concept should be found and recognized at all institutional levels.

Thus, family policy should provide the general framework for taking measures in response to the economic and social challenges of our time. Recognizing the necessity of promoting the family, conceived as a preventive policy, should not mean State interference in the family. No new social rights need be invented. Rather, conditions for justice should be created.

In addition, family policy must be clearly distinguished from social policy. Indeed, social policy suggests assistance aimed at mitigating the gravity of a situation: first reducing its negative effects and then ensuring emergence from a situation judged to be bad. Family policy, on the other hand, should permit sustainable economic development. The goal could never be to abolish the family.

Finally, family policy should be a full-fledged policy. First, it has its objectives: to promote a model -- at the very least, not penalizing those wishing to have children. It has its means: fair compensation for expenses connected with education, and genuine recognition of the value of domestic work. Finally, it has its goals: lasting action founded on the criteria of justice and effectiveness, because the family is an investment for tomorrow. Only a real awareness of the importance of those various elements will enable us to implement family policy effectively.

My delegation notes with satisfaction actions in connection with this anniversary taken by various countries, in particular Benin and Qatar.