Statement of the Group of Friends of the Family in New York
I have the honour to make this statement on the need for mainstreaming the family
across the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda on behalf of Bangladesh,
Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, the
Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Turkmenistan, Yemen, Zimbabwe and my
own country Belarus.
We reaffirm that the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is
entitled to protection by society and the State.
We believe that genuine and effective sustainable development may not be achieved
without the family.
We stress the importance of development and support of national familyoriented
policies, programmes and initiatives that harness the unique strength and
contributions of the family to common good of societies.
We are convinced that the human rights women and men, children and older persons,
persons with disabilities could be best promoted and protected within the family
environment.
We are also convinced that the family, as the fundamental unit of society and the natural
environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children,
should be afforded the necessary protection.
We call for systematic mainstreaming of the family across the Post-2015 Development
Agenda.
The importance of the family in the Post-2015 Development Agenda was clearly
expressed by many delegations.
We believe that the documents and decisions of the SDG Summit of 2015 that will
define key elements of the new development framework should include, as a matter of
priority, promotion of the family as a contributor and beneficiary of the development
process
By highlighting this important linkage of the family to sustainable development in the
documents and decisions of the SDG Summit of 2015 we can gain an invaluable tool to
ensure the strengthening and proliferation of the family-friendly and family-supportive
environment – both at the national level and globally.
Therefore, we urge Member States to join us in the efforts to ensure the inclusion of the
family and family-oriented policies, as an important element of the Post- 2015
Development Agenda.
