UNIVERSAL PEACE FEDERATION

Albania, Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Cambodia, Czech Republic, DR Congo, Ecuador, Fiji,

Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand,

Nigeria, Norway, Peru, UK, US, Zambia

“Families Matter for the Achievement of Development Goals”

"By providing economic and emotional sustenance to their members, families can raise productive, caring citizens committed to the common good," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his statement about this year's theme, "Families Matter for the Achievement of Development Goals." He added that strong, well-functioning families can help "reduce poverty, improve the wellbeing of mothers, promote gender equality and uphold human rights."

UPF chapters organized a variety of events commemorating the UN International Day of Families, May 15, 2014. UPF promotes this UN observance because it considers the family as a microcosm of the global community and peace as grounded in the family as the most intimate social unit, the school of love.

ALBANIA: Forum in Tirana

ALBANIA: Forum in Shkodra

ALBANIA: Forum in Vlora

ARGENTINA: Honoring couples who have been married 25 years or more

AUSTRIA: Forum in Vienna

BANGLADESH: Forum hosted at Dhaka University

BARBADOS: Seminar in Bridgetown

CAMBODIA: Program at an orphanage in Kanadal Province

CZECH REPUBLIC: Conference in the Parliament

DR Congo: Couples in Bukavu honored for faithfulness in marriage

ECUADOR: Program in Quito at the Central University of Ecuador

FIJI: Sharing food and music with the elderly in Suva

FINLAND: Forum in Helsinki

FRANCE: Forum in Paris on “The Family as a School of Peace”

GERMANY: Forum in Frankfurt on values taught in schools

GERMANY: Forum in Stuttgart about strengthening marriage and family

INDIA: Program at the YWCA in Chennai

INDONESIA: Program at school SMA Kartika 3 in Medan

INDONESIA: Program at the State University of Medan

ITALY: An interreligious program in Bergamo on “Faith in the Family”

JAPAN: Families cleaning along the streets of Tokyo

KENYA: Youth in Nairobi gave speeches, sang and offered prayers

MALAYSIA: Speeches and games in a Kuala Lumpur park

NETHERLANDS: An interreligious and intercultural program in The Hague

NEW ZEALAND: Program in Auckland

NIGERIA: Ambassadors for Peace conference in Uyo, Awka Ibom State

NIGERIA: Peace education conference in Lagos

NORWAY: A forum in Oslo about Perspectives on the Family

PERU: Recognizing couples in Lima married more than 20 years

PERU: Programs in 3 districts of Trujillo

UK: Program in Glasgow, Scotland

US: Program in Washington DC

ZAMBIA: Forum in Lusaka

“The family is the natural framework for nurturing altruism, and family norms should inform a society of peace in its

economic, political and religious dimensions.” – Jacques Marion, President, UPF-France

© 2014 UNIVERSAL PEACE FEDERATION

For more information please visit: upf.org