WFWP Africa celebrates the International Day of Families
Written by: Flory Ledwaba
May 15 is proclaimed by the United Nations as the day to highlight the importance of families as the basic unit of society. A peaceful family is a basis for a peaceful society. This year’s international theme is “Family and Urbanization.” It aims to promote and raise awareness of the importance of developing sustainable urban policies for the benefit of families.
WFWP Africa held a virtual program with the theme: “Urbanization Trends Impacting Family Life” on Sunday, May 15, 2022. There were 70 participants. The main aim is to facilitate the analysis of the impact of the trends in urbanization on family life and to recommend policies to harness the positive aspects of these trends. Dr. Susan Kone, International Vice President of WFWP Africa, in her opening remarks, mentioned that we all belong to certain families and every family has a special place in the universe. In Africa, many families are migrating from rural areas in search of greener pastures to the big cities. This brought a shift in the family’s way of life. Families in the urban areas many times lack the support of extended family members who are left behind in the village. This is an important support for growth and nurturing for healthy wellbeing.
The main speaker, Dr. Marta Carvalho, President of WFWP Portugal, encouraged all participants to make an effort to rescue family values and with them, create families, societies, and a peaceful and better world, where everyone contributes to each other's well-being (both internally and externally) inside and outside the family. She said that when this happens, urbanization and so many other problems that affect our families and human society will be automatically remedied because there will no longer be people living in precarious and/or inhumane conditions, and no people experiencing hunger, misery, crime, and victims of violence because we will have activated our ability to put ourselves in the place of another and provide him with what we would like to receive if we were in his place.
Rev. Pedro Kinambuta, National President of Family Federation Angola, explained the crucial roles of the church, government and the family in setting orderliness in the community. With all these, the family is the center.
Mrs. Maria Kadima, the regional mother in Africa, said that the mother is the pillar of the family. The mother sets the tone in terms of the values upheld in the family.
Mrs. Bernadette Fogue, WFWP Africa Education Director, gave the closing remarks and reiterated that a loving family is a basis of which a peaceful society, nation, and world are formed. The virtual event was moderated by Mrs. Flory Ledwaba, Regional Secretary-General of WFWP Africa.
