BY EYUEL KIFLU
Family can be defined as a group of people related by blood, marriage, or adoption and share common goals, values, and traditions. Family is also a social unit that provides emotional, physical, and financial support to each member; and nurtures the development of children.
Family can take numerous forms, including extended relatives or those who are not related by blood but share common affection and care. Unquestionably, family is the foundation of a community; and a country. Understanding this fact and the multidimensional role families play in accelerating development and nation building, several international and regional proclamations were ratified and adopted to protect families.
The UN, giving due attention to this issue, declared the ‘World Family Day’ or the ‘International Day of Families’ in 1993. It also declared to observance of the day every year on May 15. Thus, the day is marked worldwide on May 15, with the aim to promote awareness about family issues; and foster a better understanding regarding the social, economic, and demographic changes that affect families and encourage nations to adopt appropriate policies and actions to support families.
What is more, the celebration of the day aims to promote the importance of family as a basic unit of society in sustaining human development, creating happy and healthy communities, and ensuring a sustainable future. According to the FDRE Constitution, Article 34, Sub-Article 3, family is the base of community, so it has a right to get security from society and the government. Owing to this, the Ethiopian Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MoWSA) has established a responsible body mandated for family-related issues, and the minister’s organized family and elder sub-department.
Recently, the International Day of Families was celebrated globally; and Ethiopia also marked the day for the first time under the theme “The Role of the Family for the Generation.”. Speaking at the event, Women and Social Affairs Minister, Ergogie Tesfaye (PhD), said that protecting family’s unity, creating healthy family relations, and building strength as an institution are important to build a strong country and effective governance.
The family should make a significant contribution to the process of preserving social values and passing them on to the next generation. The family is the foundation and pillar of society and is considered as a natural, basic institution that plays a significant role significantly and contributes positively to the political, economic, and social interactions.As to the Minister, if the family is productive, the country will also be productive. Thus, for the country to survive and ensure its sustainability.
The peace and security of the family should be ensured. She also added that the respect given to family is special among Ethiopians; this makes the generation believe in respect, tolerance, and living together. However, the negative impact of the modern lifestyle is threatening an age old culture of valuing and respecting family. In particular, social media has a great chance of losing existing family values. She stressed that the family should fulfil its role by preserving social values and passing them on to the next generation. Mentioning that family is an important foundation to shape the personality of the generation, the Minister urged all to work together to further strengthen the value of family.
Women and Social Affairs State Minister Ayelech Eshete, for her part said that the aim of marking ‘Family Day’ is to create awareness where every family member can have a chance to appreciate and respect each other, and strengthen our good values. It also serves as an opportunity to awaken stakeholders to take responsibility and support families that are at risk of problems due to various reasons.
She also indicated that the government has put policies and structures in place to ensure the safety and productivity of the family. Family should be an institution where a generation that is shaped with good personality is generated, and a place where members of the family can have love, care and protection. “When man-made or natural disasters occur, family security is threatened. Not only that, even when marriage breaks up, or when the government and society do not receive proper protection, the family will be exposed to various problems. So, in order for the family to play its proper role, it is very important to improve social values and ensure the social and economic benefits of the family. And for this, we all have to play our part,” she emphasized.
In earlier times, there were no documents related to family matters. Luckily, this year, the Ministry has given due attention to the issue and two documents have been prepared- one Family Management Skills Manual, which will strengthen and secure family relations, increase the overall role of the family, and the other one is Family Action Plan Manual. Both have incalculable benefits, it was learnt. As it was stated, the Family Action Plan, which focuses on the social and economic demands of family rights and other family challenges, would be applicable in the next five years. The first Ethiopian Family Day was celebrated in panel discussion in Addis Ababa. Different papers were also presented, and participants forwarded constructive inputs that are helpful to enrich the Family Management Skills Manual.
The general aim of celebrating World Family Day is to promote the importance of family and strengthen the bonds within families. It is a day marked to recognize the value of family units and to celebrate the role that families play in society. The day also aims to raise awareness about the challenges facing families around the world and encourage governments and organizations to support policies and programs that benefit families. Ultimately, the aim is to build stronger, more supportive families that can benefit individuals, communities, and society as a whole.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 20 MAY 2023
