In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to celebrate May 15th as “International Day of Families” worldwide. To mark the occasion, the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Austria, together with the Family Federation for World Peace, the Austrian Women’s Federation, and the Iranian Wisdom House Vienna, organized a conference on May 17th addressing the topic of “Family-Orientated Policies for Sustainable Development”.
The conference, held at the venue of Seidengasse 28 in Vienna and moderated by MC Marinela Stefanc, saw an international crowd as well as renowned speakers who presented and discussed the importance of the concept of family in today’s turbulent world.
UPF Austria President Mr. Peter Haider opened the conference with a warm welcoming speech. A software professional, Mr. Peter Haider has been dedicating himself to inter-religious dialogues since 1984 and has been active for UPF for the past 20 years. A happy father of four sons and grandfather of 10 grandchildren, he can’t stress enough of the importance and bliss of family life.
Mr. Haider’s greetings were followed by the conference speakers including Mag. Elisabeth Cook, Dr. Wadih Maalouf, Dr. Reza Gholami, Mr. Derwin Morillo and Ms. Yuru Peters.
Mag. Elisabeth Cook, President of the Austrian Family Federation, pointed out in her speech the never-to-be-changed connection among the family members. To understand each other’s role, however, is not only concerning the traditional values, but also for the sake of the social good. She advocates the idea of parent education being started as early as from the kindergarten years.
An Iranian scholar, Dr. Reza Gholami who specializes in political and intercultural philosophy, Islamic philosophy, and cultural studies, talked about the cultural diversity vs single culture in family. Keeping traditions alive shall be the goal of communities. To hold the cultural values of all family members, esp. women and children, is thus important.
Dr. Wadih Maalouf from Lebanon is a seasoned UN professional since 2006. Graduated from John Hopkins School of Public Health, he is global programme coordinator at United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, working tightly with WHO. He emphasized the family as a social institution and rounded up his point by reciting the great Lebanese poet Gibran Khalil Gibran’s “On Children” from the book “The Prophet”, which very much touched the audience.
Mr. Derwin Morillo from Venezuela reminded the audience that Venezuela has the richest oil resources in the world. The country was once rich, but now very poor, unfortunately. Among corruption and other setbacks, the family problem is a huge issue in the society. 40% families are with single mothers, and 9 out of 10 single mothers live under poverty line. Now that he is a lucky father with a daughter, he cares a lot about the effort and responsibility of raising a family. His biggest hope for family is peace, goodness, and humanity, he said.
The speaker Ms. Yuri Peters from Singapore has an intercultural marriage. She compared family to a school, school of love, experience and sacrifice. A successful family life needs to overcome selfishness. In Asia, it is normal to see three generations under one roof, which is by no means easy. Respect, patience, love and more are obviously essential elements in keeping a big family harmonious.
The “True Family Awards” highlighted the conference, seeing five couples, respectively from Austria, Philippine, Nigeria, Lebanon, Pakistan and Australia receiving the honor.
Enriching the conference were the music performances including the choir singing “You raise me up” and “Von guten Mächten”, and the violin playing a sonata piece by G.P.Telemann. Leefa and Atsuko Etsaki were among the musicians.
Be the first to comment on "UPF Conference on “Family-Orientated Policies for Sustainable Development” Successfully Held in Vienna"