The occasion is the 20th anniversary of the International Year of the Family. The location is the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City. In the plenary session on the morning of Dec. 3, member states presented statements on the importance of the family unit in today's society.
“Our action or inaction on the family in the United Nations will be one of the rare occasions when the world will be really watching,” stated Ambassador Andrei Dapkiunas of Belarus, while acknowledging, “It is not at all common for people around the world to follow the day-to-day U.N. activities with bated breath.”
So why will the world be watching this time?
The U.N. is currently in the process of defining the goals and objectives for sustainable development in the post-2015 years (2015 to 2030). One of the contentious issues in this process is the definition of the family.
The family is defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the "the natural and fundamental group unit of society.” However, Dapkiunas noted that some countries now believe that “this perspective on the sanctity of the family and marriage is (out of date), with an effort to ”apply the absolute of homocentrism to redefinition of the role of the family in society.”
As an example, Norway called for diversity on the concept of family. Iselin Larsen, first secretary for Norway, said, “No individual should be discriminated as a result of the form of family to which they belong.” She called for an acknowledgment of parents of the same gender.
The U.S. agreed. Carol Hamilton, representative of the United States, said, “We believe that social development across the globe requires stable and strong families of all types ... be they those families that are headed by a mother and father, a single parent, a same-sex couple, grandparents or the myriad of other family structures which provide essential support for raising children.”
Hamilton urged delegates to the U.N. to recognize various forms of the family in “any discussion which may take place in the context of the post-2015 development agenda.” She concluded by saying that “we do not want to leave anyone behind.”
Egypt refused this effort to redefine the family. Ambassador Amr Aboulatta declared that many member states and a wide spectrum of civil society organizations are opposed to this effort to introduce the notions of gender identity and sexual orientation in resolutions related to family and children.
He gave two reasons for opposing this action:
(1) “Gender identity and sexual orientation are neither universally acceptable nor reflected in any international human rights instrument that has been negotiated and adopted by consensus,” and
(2) “Those two notions are counterproductive and will have a negative impact on the family concepts which we are celebrating today.”
While respecting reciprocity, Egypt asked member states to work for the welfare of children, “according to every country’s social and cultural patterns and their understanding of the family.”
As a result of these disagreements, the family is currently “left out” of the post-2015 development documents. Negotiations will continue throughout 2015 and conclude in a summit at the U.N. in September. Unless some consensus on family can be found, the “natural and fundamental group unit of society” will be sidelined.
It seems a sure diagram for failure.
Susan Roylance is the International Policy and Social Development Coordinator for the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society.