“MAINSTREAMING A FAMILY PERSPECTIVE IN THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT GOALS”

  Sharon Slater

President of Family Watch International  © 2014

          www.familywatchinternational.org   •    fwi@familywatchinternational.org   

FAMILY WATCH INTERNATIONAL

 

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Window of Opportunity in 2014

“The International Year of the Family offers an op portunity to add a family focus

to development.”  

(SG Family Report 2011(A/66/62–E/2011/4)

 

The Family is Key to Attaining the SDGs

 “The majority of the Millennium Development targets, especially those

relating to the reduction of poverty, education of children and reduction in maternal mortality, are difficult to attain unless the strategies to achieve them

focus on the family.”

(SG Family Report 2011 (A/66/62–E/2011/4)

Rationale for Family-Focused SDGs

“The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.”

(Universal Declaration (1948), Article 16(3))

“The stability and cohesiveness of com munities and societies largely rest on the strength of the

family.”(SG Family Report 2011 (A/66/62–E/2011/4)

Possible SDGs Based on OWG Discussions

(For Discussion Purposes Only!)• SDG 1: Eradicate Poverty• SDG 2: Educate the World’s Children• SDG 3: Empower Women• SDG 4: Decrease Child Mortality• SDG 5: Improve Maternal Health• SDG 6: Eliminate HIV/AIDS/Other Diseases• SDG 7: Promote Sustainable Environment/Development• SDG 8: Improve Sanitation and Clean Water• SDG 10: Promote Partnerships for Development

Why Have We Not Focused on the Family?• Laws, policies and programs too often target individuals rather than families, despite evidence that a family-centered and family-focused approach yields better results.

• We need to shift the rhetoric from appreciating families to prioritizing them as worthy of study, investment, partnership, and political action.

A Call for a Stand Alone SDG

Proposed SDG: Strengthen the role of the family as a driver of development

“The very achievement of development goals depends on how well fam ilies are

empowered to contribute to the achievement of those goals.”

(SG 2011 Family Report (A/66/62–E/2011/4)

SDG 1: Eradicate Poverty

Results of Family Preservation Program

Before After Using treated water 12% 94%

Latrines 28% 88%

Adult literacy 42% 79%

Maternal death – not one in over 1,000 births!

www.careforlife.org

SDG 6: Eliminate HIV/AIDS Stay Alive HIV/AIDS

Prevention Program:

2 million children and parents in over 15 African countries

Family/Parental involvement

61% reduction in pregnancy rate in Kenya

(StayAlive.org, UnitedFamilies. org, ReachtheChildren.org)

SDG 8: Improve Sanitation and Clean Water

Drinking Treated Water• Before FPP - 12%• After FPP - 97%

Family Latrine• Before FPP 32%• After FPP 98%

Sleeping Under Mosquito Nets• Before FPP - 27%• After FPP - 98%

Children 6-18 Attending School• Before FPP - 40%• After FPP - 76%

Results of Family Preservation

Proposed Family Goal:

Strengthen the role of the family as a driver of development

Families for Orphans Program

“Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.”  

(UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Preamble)

FamiliesForOrphans.org

• Obstacle: Controversy over the definition of the family

• Solution: Let each nation define the family according to their own cultures and laws

• Rationale: UN Member States could not agree on a definition for terrorism, yet the UN still has a resolution to address it. Constitutions all over the world address the family without defining it.

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Proposed SDG: Strengthen the Family as a Driver of Development

• Proposed Target A: Establish national procedures to analyze the impact of laws, policies, and programs on family stability and autonomy.

• Proposed Target B: Mainstream a family perspective in the sustainable development goals by establishing measurable family-focused targets in each area and identifying and promoting evidence-based / family-based approaches for achieving them.

Family Impact Institute:THE FAMILY IMPACT RATIONALE:

AN EVIDENCE BASE FOR THE FAMILY IMPACT LENSBy Karen Bogenschneider and Olivia Little

• Identify ways to make laws, policies, programs, agencies, and organizations more sensitive to and supportive of families.

• Evaluate the culture, policies, and practices of agencies to identify ways in which they support families, and what gaps exist.

Family Impact Lens

Family involvement proved pivotal to program implementation in a meta-

analysis of 47 studies including 11,000 participants from 7 different countries.

• The family-centered approach proved relatively more effective for all outcomes including resource levels, and services; and higher ratings of child behavior, parenting behavior, and adult and family well-being

(Dunst et al., 2007).

Family Impact Lens:

• In what ways, if any, families contribute to the issue;

• Whether involving families in the response would result in better policies, programs, and outcomes.

• Also, how will the policy, program, or practice support -- rather than substitute -- for family members’ responsibilities to one another..

WHETHER A SINGLE DEFINITION OF FAMILY IS NEEDED?

• “We do not think defining family is central to conducting a family impact analysis. We do not offer a single definition of family, but instead suggest that defining family is based upon context and use. This lack of a single preferred definition may seem unsatisfying, yet [ample] precedence exists in policy settings.”

WHAT IS A FAMILY?

• ““We take the position that the definition of family will vary depending upon what a policy or program is trying to accomplish. Existing definitions of family can be categorized in several ways, two that we cover here: ► structural definitions that specify family membership according to certain characteristics such as blood relationship, legal ties, or residence; and ► functional definitions that specify functions that family members perform, such as sharing economic resources and caring for the young, elderly, sick, or disabled (Bogenschneider, 2006; Bogenschneider et al., 1993; Moen & Schorr, 1987).

• .”

WHY IS AN SDG ON THE FAMILY SO IMPORTANT?

“To strengthen and support families in the important functions they perform for the benefit of their

members and the good of society.”

“As the family goes . . .

so go the children, so goes the nation,

so goes the world”