The smallest democracy.

It is the oldest and most basic unit of human organization; the most crucial link between generations; the primary transmitter of culture; the sustainer of heritage; and the major provider of food, shelter and love. It has been described as the smallest democracy at the heart of our ever-changing society.

It" is the family And, for the first time, the world, led by the United Nations, pays a consolidated tribute to this most essential, enduring and endangered of human institutions through its celebration of the International Year of the Family in 1994.

The International Year, proclaimed by the General Assembly on 8 December 1989 (resolution 44182), was formally launched on 7 December 1993 with a special ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, featuring a children's chorus singing the official theme song of the Year - the Family - composed by Jacqueline Reinach of the United States.

The Year "celebrates the contribution of the family to human life in all of its aspects", UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said on that occasion. "In the change and confusion of the modern world, families are a source of stability and promise. . . . They are a force for progress, a counterweight to alienation, and a defence against breakdown and disorder."

Yet, despite those strengths, said the Secretary-General, "families everywhere are under pressure. In some countries, the rates of family disintegration are a cause for genuine alarm. In other countries, negative pressures on families have weakened their cohesiveness. Family support mechanisms have been seriously undermined."

With its theme Families: resources and responsibilities in a changing world", the Year aims first to create among Governments, policy-makers and the public a greater awareness of the family as the fundamental unit of society and to prompt action in support of families, as well as greater sensitivity to their needs.

The official logo for the Year (pictured above), designed by Swiss-born Catherine Littacy-Rollier, is a heart sheltered by a roof to symbolize life and love in the home - the heart of the family. The open brush stroke provides an image of the family in today's world: continuity with a hint of uncertainty.

"Present-day realities remind us of the importance of families as basic units of society, performing such vital functions as the rearing of children, caring for the vulnerable, providing emotional and material support for their members and, generally, serving as the pillars of entire communities", noted forty-eighth Assembly President S. R. Insanally of Guyana at the Year's launching. "It has been said, in fact, that if we want better people to make a better world, we should begin where people are made - in the family."

Some three dozen UN organizations and specialized agencies have been involved in preparing for the Year, along with 16 intergovernmental organizations outside the UN system. Several countries have launched national programmes for the Year and the General Assembly will hold an international Conference on Families in October 1994. The Assembly on 20 September 1993 also established an annual International Day of Families, which in 1994 will be observed on 15 May.

Among the important goals of the Year, UN agencies have called for: recognition of the participation of families in the achievement of fundamental human development aims, such as poverty alleviation, health, nutrition, education, shelter and employment; the formulation of "family-sensitive" national policies; and governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to assess how their decisions and actions will affect families.

An assessment of the Year, including the views of Member States, is planned for early 1995, as well as an interregional expert group meeting to identify and elaborate appropriate follow-up strategies.

The subject of families "provides a unique convergence of numerous issues of social policy, human rights and development", noted a joint statement issued on 19 August (Annex to A/48/293) by UN organizations and specialized agencies. "It is an occasion to promote the concept of the family as the smallest democracy at the heart of society."

A primary principle underpinning observance of the international Year is that families assume diverse forms and functions from one country to another and within each national society. Indeed, while individuals and family groups struggle to retain their proud traditions and heritage, for many people today the most pronounced feature of their lives is change. Worldwide, the family is undergoing constant transformation due to social change, economic problems and pressures of modernization and development.

Powerful demographic and socioeconomic forces are also reshaping family structure. Populations and families are ageing; households are changing in size and composition; people are waiting before getting married and are having children later in life; and women are bearing fewer children and living longer, leaving increasing numbers of older women widowed, alone and without support during their later years.

In all industrial countries except the former Soviet Union, the average household size shrank over the past two decades. For instance, the average United States household continued to shrink, from 3.1 persons in 1970 to 2.6 in 1990. That trend also characterizes most countries in Latin America and eastern Asia. For example, China's average household declined from 4.4 persons in 1982 to 4 in 1990.

On the other hand, in African and south and west Asian countries, the average household size seems to have increased. In Algeria, for example, it rose from 5.9 persons in 1966 to 7 in 1987.

At the same time, the number of one-person households has increased remarkably in industrial countries - with growing numbers of young, unmarried and elderly people living alone - as well as in developing countries on their way to modernization.

These developments have important consequences for the provision of security and welfare support for dependants, particularly children, the elderly, disabled persons and the chronically ill. This is especially true in countries where the family and the community are still the main means providing individual security.

Preparing for the Year

The need to develop concrete and long-range approaches to support families and the importance of recognizing the diverse forms of families and the changing patterns of family life have been stressed by the UN Commission for Social Development, which has assumed a crucial role as the preparatory body for the 1994 observance by establishing the conceptual framework for international action on family issues.

At its 1993 annual session (8-17 February, Vienna) - the final session in preparation for the Year - the Commission affirmed the pivotal role of families in society and asserted the importance of supporting families as the basic social institution ensuring the survival of human society and the well-being of family members.

The role of families as social policy actors was another important theme, with speakers calling for families and their concerns to be integrated more fully into broad strategies of social and economic development.

Rights, responsibilities

In an overview of the preparatory process for the Year, the Secretary-General reported (A/48/293) that, in the early stages of preparations, there had been fears that the Year "might impose a standard definition of the family and promote a specific family model; and that the Year, by stressing the rights of families, might neglect their important responsibilities."

However, activities for the Year had ended up taking a broad approach to all forms of families, putting equal emphasis on rights and responsibilities. Moreover, a clear sense of the global nature of many family issues had evolved, with several elements of international consensus regarding families emerging, Mr. Boutros-Ghali reported. Those included:

* The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State;

* Various concepts of the family exist in different social, cultural and political systems. It is also recognized that families are basic to the social structure and development of all societies and exhibit many common problems around the world;

* Gender equality, women's equal participation in employment and shared parental responsibilities are essential elements of modern family policy;

* Families are the fullest reflection, at the grass-roots level, of the strengths and weaknesses of the social and developmental welfare environment; and

* Families, as basic units of social life, are major agents of sustainable development at all levels of society, and their contribution is crucial for its success.

To those ends, the secretariat for the International Year, based in Vienna, has coordinated an international technical cooperation programme on families,

with specific projects under way in Africa and in countries of the former Soviet Union.

Other projects undertaken at the national and international levels include research activities, publication programmes, media strategies, promotional events, expert meetings and conferences on family issues, policy analysis and development, legislative reform programmes, educational and training programmes, funding programmes for family services, cultural events, and development of long-term strategies for family support at the local, national and international levels.

In 1993, Member States convened four regional preparatory meetings and

non-governmental bodies presented two major international events: an international congress for families - "Familyfest |93" (5 June, Rome) - which was broadcast live via satellite; and a world forum of NGOs-"strengthening Families for the Well-being of individuals and Society" (28 November-2 December, Valleta, Malta).

Attended by some 1,000 delegates from 100 countries, the World NGO Forum on the International Year of the Family (1994) provided a platform for generating ideas and activities emphasizing the involvement of grassroots organizations and families themselves. It aimed to serve as a catalyst for action on behalf of families and to focus on effective follow-up action for the Year.

In plenary sessions and at 40 specific workshops, the Forum gave special attention to strengthening the family by promoting solidarity, equality between men and women and respect for every individual member of the family.

At its conclusion, participants issued the Malta Statement" (A/48/712), calling on Governments and the UN to enter into an ongoing process of building a "family-friendly society" and for a declaration on the rights and responsibilities of families to be identified as a specific goal of follow-up to the Year.

Think family

Consideration of family-related issues would offer an opportunity to address, as the Secretary-General had noted in a statement to the NGO Forum, social issues and development in a comprehensive manner. "Think family, because family matters", Henryk J. Sokalski, UN Coordinator for the International Year, stressed in New York on 6 December.

The family has been part of many international legal instruments agreed by Member States in the five decades since the UN was created. As these instruments have evolved, they have struck a balance between promoting human rights and respecting existing traditions, as well as protecting the family as an institution, while safeguarding the individual rights of its members.

Among the important international instruments which refer to the family are: the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the 1966 international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief; and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Building upon this foundation of international law, the Year aims to improve the world's institutional capability to tackle serious family-related problems.

"Let us remember", stated Assembly President Insanally on 7 December, "that in advancing the concept of the family as the smallest democracy at the heart of society, we will be helping to build a world in which peace and development can best flourish. We must, therefore, strive to ensure that the institution of the family not only survives, but is greatly strengthened."

Family and Youth:

An apprenticeship for life

Families are the ultimate mentors, providing the fundamental apprenticeship for life. Under the right conditions, they prepare young people to realize their potential and assume useful roles as adults in society.

In fact, the maxim "learning begins at birth" is an undisputed concept. The period from birth to the age of six is critical in the formation of intelligence, personality and social behaviour. It is in the family that the child's self-understanding an self-esteem are developed. The learning that occurs in the early months and years of life will either enhance or handicapped learning throughout later life.

Children also socialize their parents, serving as carriers of emerging trends. In many ways, parents learn from their children about child development, peer and sibling relationships, school, fashion and changes in society. In particular, immigrant and refugee parents often learn about their new country's language, customs and culture from their children.

The family also performs a fundamental role in education. Despite growing support for the view that education is an essential right of all individuals, the decisions of parents still play a pivotal role in determining the amount and quality of education that any child receives, either formally or informally.

In cultures where education is highly valued, it has been observed that a stable family system is a major factor in encouraging children to acquire education. In contrast, the decline in educational attainment in some countries has been in part attributed to the decline of family support systems.

Indeed, the relationship of today's young people with the older generation, in particular with their families, has become increasingly fragile. The tremendous transformations occurring in and around the family have diminished the influence of the family in the socialization process. Schools, peer groups, computer technology and television all compete with the family in socializing young people.

In 1993, a five-day interregional meeting on the role of family in the socialization of youth (31 May-4 June, Beijing) brought together experts from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Russian Federation, among others, to recommend guidelines for improving the formulation of national policies in support of the role of the family in socializing youth and the role of youth in socializing the family.

According to Mr. Sokalski, UN Coordinator for the Year, families "serve as agents of, or obstacles to, change and development." As stated previously by the Secretary-General, "life in larger freedom, so basic to the vision of the United Nations, cannot be achieved unless first lived in the experience of families."