By HarrishThirukumaran
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, one could highlight that families and the sense of togetherness they bringhave in combination been a rather significant source of resilience in dealing with the implications of this health crisis. Through physical distancing measures, most of us had a spent most of our time with members of our immediate family with rare trips to the outside world. While this is positive to fight things like social isolation and loneliness in this pandemic, there are some issues that have emerged as side effects such as a rise in domestic violence. It is thereby critical to shed light on the importance of International Day of Families spearheaded by the United Nations.
The day of observance was declared to be commemorated on May 15 in 1993 following resolutionA/RES/47/237 of the General Assembly. This was in response to the resolution 44/82 of 9 December 1989 where the General Assembly proclaimed the International Year of the Family. The day itself provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase the knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.
Family-oriented policies and programs and families generally are keyin the achievement of many goals in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This includes eliminating poverty, discrimination, abuse and preventable deaths, addressing environmental destruction, and ushering in an era of development for all people, everywhere. These sorts of policies should ideally address the root causes of domestic violence especially in situations like a pandemic with physical distancing measures.
Last year, the theme was focused on families, family policies and major SDG 13 targets. These are SDG target 13.3 of improving education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning and SDGtarget 13.2: integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. The theme for the 2020 commemoration of International Day of Families is “Families in Development: Copenhagen & Beijing + 25.”
Accordingly, this year’s 25th anniversary of the World Summit for Social Development comes at a time of one of the most challenging global health and social crises. In terms of families, COVID-19 has reinforced how the family is the basic unit driving society. The pandemic brings into sharp focus the importance of investing in social policies protecting the most vulnerable individuals and families. It is the families who bear the brunt of the crisis, sheltering their members from harm, caring for out of school children and at the same time continuing their work responsibilities.
Families become the hub of intergenerational interactions that support us in the crisis. Under economic duress, poverty deepens. In times of uncertainty, stress increases often resulting in growing violence against women and children. That is why the support for vulnerable families, those who lost income, those in inadequate housing, those with young children, older persons and persons with disabilities is imperative now more than ever. COVID-19 is the springboard for policy action that supports families in Canada and elsewhere. Take the opportunity to spread awareness about the importance of families with International Day of Families in addressing the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
