A global conference billed as the culminating event of the U.N. International Year of the Family will be held March 16-19 in Salt Lake City.

Participants from throughout the world are expected to attend and share successful strategies for enhancing the family, organizers said at a press conference Sunday."The problems facing the family cut across nations and cultures," said Vera Mehta, associate director of the sponsoring Patron Cities Program. "This conference will present a holistic, comprehensive view of the family."

And it will focus on solutions rather than further defining a problem that is already understood, said Mehta, a U.N. consultant and former secretary general of the International Association of Schools of Social Work.

"The conference will affect the lives of millions of people as the ideas are carried back to the nations," she predicted. "This is probably a very epochmaking event."

Details of the four-day event were announced by conference director Mike Stewart, a former Salt Lake County commissioner. He said Salt Lake City was chosen over five other sites because of its strong interest in the family and human services issues.

The conference will open at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Abravanel Hall with a broadcast message from U.N. Secretary General Boutros-Boutros Ghali, followed by comments from Victor Ashe, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors; and Tarjik Kuposovic, mayor of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; and a performance by the International Children's Choir.

Scheduled to speak at Friday's general session are Princess Sarvath al Hassan, crown princess of Jordan, and James Renier, chairman of Honeywell Inc. and chairman of the Mobilization of America's Children program.

On Saturday, scheduled speakers include Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Tony Burns, chairman and CEO of Ryder Systems and past president of the National Urban League.

The conference will close on Sunday in the Tabernacle on Temple Square with comments from President Thomas S. Monson, a counselor to two former presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Randy Frank, president of the National Association of Counties; and Henryk J. Sokalski, U.N. coordinator for the International Year of the Family; and a performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

In addition to the keynote remarks from high-profile dignitaries, Stewart said dozens of workshops will be held. Topics include housing, literacy, single parent families, the elderly, the family in the workplace, family values, street children, gangs, family law, health and nutrition.

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"There has never been a conference like this anywhere," Stewart said. "It will be the first time that the public and private sector has come together on the issue of the family."

What makes the conference special, he said, is its focus on prevention, its holistic approach and its inclusion of both the public and private sectors. Also, unlike other conferences, it will not be all talk and no action, Stewart said.

"This is not a talk conference," he said. "This is about what works, about who has the solutions."

The public is invited to all of the general sessions. Free tickets are available at many Smith's Food and Drug Centers; Brigham Young University, Ernest L. Wilkinson Center information desk; University of Utah, Olpin Union Desk; Utah State University, Spectrum Ticket Office; Weber State University, Dee Event Center; and ZCMI department stores.

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