By Holy See Mission
Statement by H.E. Archbishop Celestino MiglioreApostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy
See to the United NationsBefore the Plenary of the 59th General
Assembly, on Item 94:10th Anniversary of the International
Year of the FamilyNew York, 6 December 2004Mr. President,
My delegation is pleased to take
the floor at the conclusion of the celebration of the tenth anniversary
of the
International Year of the Family, and this in the context of the 59th
session of
the General Assembly as it debates two priorities for our world today,
security
and development.
Our debates and our programmes
focus on a broad concept of security, comprising what in our UN parlance
we call
the “hard threats”, like terrorism and weapons of mass destruction; and
the
“soft threats”, namely unemployment, poverty, the HIV/AIDS pandemic,
exploitation of children and women, scarce access to housing and
sanitation,
education and medicines, the things that affect the whole of human
society in
its daily life. Since the outlook on the increased levels of poverty
and
inequality in many countries is hardly promising, it is not surprising
that
poverty reduction has now moved to the top of the development agenda.
In this context, my delegation
would like to lend its support to the family, the fundamental unit of
society by
its nature and by the indispensable contribution that it is called to
make in
the achievement of security and development.
The family, that is the stable and
lasting union of a man and a woman, appears first of all as the most
natural and
the best suited way to assure the procreation and thus the renewal of
the
generations. For economic growth needs a minimum of demographic
dynamism, that
occurs by a reproduction assuring the replacement of the generations.
But
beyond this demographic dimension, we must consider that it is in the
bosom of
this first natural community that the individual is going to acquire a
certain
number of qualities, of acquaintances, of attitudes which will permit
him or her
one day to become a producer, that is a creative constructor of
society. In
fact, it is not only about bringing children into the world, but also
about
educating them; the economic notion of “human capital” is particularly
well
suited here: as the first place of formation of human capital, the
family
appears truly indispensable to development. There is thus every
interest in
putting in place the necessary tools for the just recognition of the
fact that
the family is not only a place of consumption but also of creation of a
true
wealth, quite ignored today.
Therefore, there can only be action
in favour of the family if there first exists a real political will to
promote a
model. In particular, the expression “basic unit of society” refers to a
very
precise conception of the social order relying on the existence of
communities
of stable persons which must be rediscovered and recognised at all
institutional
levels.
Thus, family policy could be the
general framework within which should be placed the measures put in
place to
respond to the social and economic challenges of our time; the
recognition of
the necessary promotion of the family, conceived as a preventative
policy, must
not signify the nationalisation of the family; it is not a new social
right that
needs to be invented but the conditions of justice which it is advisable
to
realise.
It must also be clearly
distinguished from social policy. In fact, the latter brings to mind
the
assistance whose objective is to attenuate the gravity of a situation,
to reduce
the effects of it at the start and finally to assure the exit from a
state
considered bad. Family policy on the contrary should permit a durable
economic
development: the objective would certainly not be to “suppress” the
family!
Ultimately, family policy must be a
completely separate policy, with:
first of all, its objectives: to promote a model that
at the very least does not penalise those who wish to have children;
then, its modalities: a just compensation of the costs
linked to education and a true recognition of domestic work;
and finally, its own requirements: a long-term action,
based on criteria of justice and of efficiency because the family is an
investment for tomorrow.
Only a true awakening of consciences to the
importance of these different aspects will permit the effective putting
into
action of family policy.
Thank you, Mr President.
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