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

6 December 2004, GA Session 59, Meeting 67

Ms. Latoundji Lauriano, Benin

Allow me at the outset to sincerely congratulate the President on his election to the presidency of the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. We would also like to thank him on behalf of the Government of Benin for his efforts to ensure the success of the work of the current session.

African ministers for the family, who met at the Regional Conference on the Family in Africa in Cotonou, Benin on 27 and 28 July 2004, entrusted my country, the Republic of Benin, with the mission of introducing the Plan of Action on the Family in Africa as Africa's contribution to the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family. It is with true pleasure and a feeling of legitimate pride that from this rostrum I take the floor today, Monday, 6 December 2004, to participate in the commemorative ceremony of the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family.

Africa is especially gratified by the fact that for decades now the United Nations, through its institutions and together with our respective States, has fought to gradually improve conditions in the social sphere.

That is why I would like, on behalf of the Government of Benin, as well as on my own behalf, respectfully and enthusiastically to recognize the hard work done by the bodies of the United Nations system and the African Union in preparing for the tenth anniversary commemoration of the International Year of the Family.

It was indeed felicitous that the General Assembly took the initiative, through its resolution 44/82 of 8 December 1989, of proclaiming 1994 to be the International Year of the Family. That initiative was taken with a view toward heightening the awareness of Governments, decision-makers and the general public about issues pertaining to the family, and was aimed at fostering activities in support of families.

The family has a vital role to play in sustainable development at the individual, community and national levels. For generations, particularly in Africa, it has been a bastion of strength, an anchor, a frame of reference and a source of identity for people. In the event of crisis -- unemployment, illness, poverty, old age or distress -- the majority of Africans rely on the family as the main source of material, social and emotional support and of social security.

The socio-economic environment in which families find themselves today has changed greatly, and profound structural, organizational and relational reforms are needed. Indeed, a decade after the institutionalization of the International Year of the Family, we must note that the family is more than ever before threatened with dislocation, given the combined negative effects of, inter alia, poverty, armed conflicts, poor governance, unemployment, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, insufficient social security mechanisms and depopulation.

According to a United Nations report, despite some achievements, many crucial issues remain unresolved, and certain contrasts persist in the pro-family policies that have been adopted. The International Year of the Family has not led to the development of a long-term global action plan for families. The tenth anniversary was thus an opportunity to provide new impetus to the follow-up of the International Year of the Family.

Therefore, it was urgent that we think about and define effective strategies to save the family and to preserve its socializing, humanizing and fulfilling role. That is why we believe that the Maputo Summit, held in July 2003, was so important. On the eve of the tenth anniversary, it provided a new starting point in the process of defining a real policy aimed at strengthening family values.

Indeed, having perceived the danger looming in the future to what society holds most sacred, the heads of State, by adopting decision EX/CL/Dec.65 (III) at the third ordinary session of the Executive Council of the African Union, took a historic step by mandating the African Union Commission -- with the support of partners of the great family of the United Nations system and of other strategic social partners -- to draft a Plan of Action on the Family in Africa, which would be Africa's contribution to the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family.

The Plan takes into consideration our own cultural realities as well as global developments. It is a realistic and feasible Plan that will not be relegated to the dusty shelf of neglect or indifference; a relevant Plan of Action whose effective and efficient implementation will give a new face and renewed vitality to the African family; a Plan of Action that will be our basic law and our guide in restoring the family and its lofty position of dignity.

The draft of the Plan was studied by experts from all the countries members of the African Union on 8 and 9 March 2004 at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, during a meeting over which I had the honour to preside. My active participation in that meeting of highly qualified experts attested to the keen sense of responsibility of the Government of President Mathieu Kérékou, given the mission that the international community and the African continent, through the African Union, have entrusted to my country, Benin.

Validated at Cotonou in April 2004 during the second ordinary session of the African Union's Labour and Social Affairs Commission, the Plan was adopted by the heads of State at the African Union summit, held in Addis Ababa on 8 July 2004. It was finally launched on 27 July 2004 in Cotonou during the Regional Conference on the Family in Africa, which focused on strategies for the implementation, follow up and assessment of the Plan of Action on the Family in Africa.

The goal of the Plan of Action on the Family in Africa is to strengthen the family, to ensure that the needs of all families are taken into consideration and to improve families' well-being and living conditions. The Plan of Action should also serve as a guide for African Union member States in drafting, following up and assessing appropriate national pro-family policies and programmes. In short, it will be an instrument that each member State will implement, taking into consideration its own specific needs and sociological realities.

The Plan of Action on the Family in Africa highlights nine priority areas: reducing poverty; the right to social services; fighting the main causes of morbidity and mortality; rights, duties and responsibilities; the right to protection of the family; strengthening family relations; promoting protection of the environment; peace and security; and follow-up, assessment and monitoring. Sixteen objectives have been identified as a framework for implementation in those areas, and 47 strategies have been endorsed to ensure the implementation, follow-up and assessment of the Plan of Action.

At the Cotonou meeting in July, all African Union member States pledged to translate the Plan of Action into concrete and relevant actions and to make it their basic law with regard to rehabilitating the family unit, henceforth recognized as a special partner of the State. They also pledged to ensure that the document would receive particular attention from development financing institutions on the basis of the Millennium Development Goals, the New Partnership for Africa's Development and related national approaches described in poverty reduction strategy papers.

I cannot conclude without expressing, on behalf of the Government and people of Benin and all of Africa, our most heartfelt thanks to the United Nations, which, through General Assembly resolution 58/15 of 3 December 2003, agreed to Benin's request to organize a conference at the continental level in the context of observing the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family. By doing so, it enabled my country to play a major role in celebrating the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family and in developing strategies for the implementation, follow-up and assessment of the Plan of Action on the Family in Africa.

The main task that we must still accomplish following the Cotonou meeting is to draft and implement the national plans of action on the family. Therefore, I would now like to request support from our various partners to finance the implementation of those documents.

Long live the International Year of the Family! Long live the Plan of Action on the Family in Africa! Long live international cooperation for effective and efficient implementation of the Plan of Action on the Family in Africa!