Supporting families for peace building

16.05.19

UNESCO - On the occasion of the International Day of Families, MMM joined forces with other NGOs in partnership with UNESCO to reaffirm the essential role of families for social cohesion, economic development.and ultimately peace.

Because of their role in education, protection, health and socialization, families are the basic cells of society. The family, as a recognized institution in all sectors, strives to provide support from birth to the end of life, educating and protecting the most vulnerable.

Stability and solidarity within family units are the keys to a balanced development of the human being. This role is particularly crucial during the first three years of children’s lives, to ensure their full cognitive, emotional, physical and social development.

Still, in a context of rapidly changing societies, families, especially single-parent families, are increasingly finding themselves in vulnerable situations. They, therefore, need the support of States to protect parents and the rights of children and adolescents.

In the context of economic, environmental and social development, family-centered policies have proven effective. The success of the Sustainable Development Goals is intrinsically linked to the role of families as active agents of personal, social and cultural change.

On this basis, MMM and other NGO signatories to the statement below call on UNESCO Member States to implement policies to improve families’ access to sustainable living conditions. to avoid situations of neglect or violence, and to recognize their role in social cohesion and economic development.

The statement, prepared by MMM and a coalition of NGO partners of UNESCO, also makes a number of recommendations. It was distributed to the Member States and sent to the Director-General of UNESCO on 15 June 2019 on the occasion of International Family Day.

Read the Statement

Gabrielle de Milleville, Representative of Make Mothers Matter to UNESCO, with Marie-Claude Machon, Permanent Representative of BWP International to UNESCO and President of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee

 

Most read articles

The New EU Gender Equality Roadmap : A Call for Inclusion of Mothers

04.03.25

The European Commission’s initiative on a new Gender Equality Roadmap post-2025, marks a significant step forward in addressing gender disparities across the European Union. Make Mothers Matter (MMM

Lire plus

Sharing is caring:
equal parenting, a path to social cohesion?

27.01.25

UN New York, UN Commission on Social Development – Register now to our virtual side-event for a discussion on how a more equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work

Lire plus

Be Family launch event: placing work-life balance at the heart of workplace policies

05.12.24

Make Mothers Matter co-presented the official launch of Be Family in Paris, a movement aimed at bridging the gap between personal and professional life for working parents. This first event,

Lire plus
See all the articlesof the category

Latest News from MMM and its Network

Recognising Mothers, Reducing Poverty
A call for an inclusive EU Anti-Poverty Strategy

23.10.25

Make Mothers Matter welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commission’s first comprehensive Anti-Poverty Strategy and calls for bold, inclusive action to ensure it benefits those who need it m

Read more

Rethinking Development: Care and Social Protection at the Core

17.10.25

Join us on Monday 3rd November for our online solution session to the Second World Summit for Social Development on Shifting the paradigm: centring care society and social protection for social development

Read more

Amplifying Mothers’ Voices at the UN Human Rights Council

15.10.25

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council – The MMM Geneva team seized opportunities to shed light on the multiple human rights violations mothers face, and to call for care-centred policies, and the recognition and em

Read more

A roadmap to eradicating poverty beyond growth must centre Care

15.10.25

UN Geneva – MMM's contribution to the initiative led by Olivier de Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Poverty, aimed at establishing a Roadmap for eradicating poverty beyond growth, calls for

Read more

Mothers’ Voices at the Heart of Europe

29.09.25

A Look Back at Our State of Motherhood Survey Presentation at the EU Parliament

Read more

Make Mothers Matter on RTBF’s Tendances Première: The State of Motherhood in Europe

16.09.25

Make Mothers Matter was recently featured on Belgian public broadcaster RTBF’s Tendances Première radio show to present the findings from our latest report, The State of Motherhood in Europe 2024. The discus

Read more