Oral Statement by Alex Vazquez, as representative of IFFD, at the ECOSOC Special Meeting on Care and Support Systems, highlighting Parenting Support Programmes as crucial tool to empower the family as a holistic agent for social change, resilience and the first layer of protection, care and support.
Madame President,
I am Alex Vazquez from the International Federation for Family Development.
We celebrate this event following up on the International Day of Care and Support. As a global federation present in 68 countries, focusing on Parenting Support Programmes, we are committed to providing parents with the tools they need to give their children the best start in life.
We are honored to contribute in shaping resilient, prosperous, and equitable societies through care and support systems with our good practices and experience in recognizing the family as a holistic agent for social change and the first layer of protection, care and support for children and other family members .
For instance, together with 40 other international organizations, we have prepared the Civil Society Declaration for the 30th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family, celebrated this very year. The Declaration includes recommendations as of,
1. Develop, invest in, and implement programs for family strengthening and parenting education, emphasizing positive parenting, shared responsibility at home and securing the best care and support provisions.
2. Recognize, protect, and value the socio-economic contribution of unpaid care, considering its financial, societal, and cultural aspects.
3. Support the role of the family in the social inclusion process of young people transitioning into the labor market to prevent the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
4. Foster healthy and active aging, promote intergenerational solidarity, and meet the needs of older persons in vulnerable situations.
5. Invest in data availability, considering the efforts of parents to allocate time for their children’s and other family members’ care and support needs.
6. Strengthen intergenerational relations in urban areas while improving mobility, housing, affordability, work-family balance, and quality community-based care services in coordination with family needs.
Muchas gracias señora presidenta.
