A Successful Year Ended, An Important Year Beginning
January 10, 2008
Dear Friend of the Family,
As we begin a new year, we are thankful for our families, our greater UFI family of supporters and friends, and for the year’s accomplishments behind us. Our team has taken a brief respite for the Christmas holiday and now we are mobilizing for 2008.
The first few months of each year mark the most demanding time in our international policy work. Several important social conferences take place in winter and spring months at the United Nations. United Families International is one of a handful of pro-family organizations holding accreditation with the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council, and our status as a non-governmental organization (NGO) allows for direct access to U.N. conferences and delegates.
On the surface, conference themes appear to be honorable and benign. The problem is that the themes are carried to extremes to suit the agenda of liberal, anti-family groups and delegations. These themes also promote one-size-fits-all solutions to a world that is highly diverse in its characteristics, values, and needs.
United Families International will build on its legacy of working these conferences to uncover anti-family agendas and, along with pro-family delegates, develop strategies to assure that the conference outcome documents support life and family. The following conferences are of vital importance to families, and with your help each one will be staffed:
COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT — February 6-15
Theme: Full employment and opportunity for all
What to watch for: Heavy emphasis on women’s rights, gender parity, gender mainstreaming, homosexual rights and sexual orientation issues. There is always the standard “reproductive rights” (abortion) slipped into various paragraphs throughout the official conference document. We assume that “full employment” will be touted as a human right.
COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN (CSW) — February 25-March 7
Theme: Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women
What to watch for: This will probably be the most heavily attended U.N. conference of the year with many non-governmental organizations participating. UFI will sponsor a side event aimed at uniting like-mind organizations in the cause of supporting the traditional family and giving these organizations the training to go back to their own home countries and work effectively.
One of the approaches UFI is focusing on this year is to create a network of in-country, pro-family groups that will work to educate their governments on the importance of public policy beneficial to marriage and family. We plan to select a region of the world, wherein we direct our educational support efforts to smaller groups in specific countries.
CSW is typically a radical feminist “love fest” positioning “reproductive rights” as the centerpiece of the conference, along with a smattering of other anti-family issues thrown in for good measure.
COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT (ICPD) — April 7-11
Theme: Population distribution, urbanization, internal migration and development
What to watch for: We expect to see a repeat of the same themes and issues we witnessed last year – a concerted push for abortion as a human right, sexual orientation and homosexual rights advocacy and an almost total exclusion of any mention of men and boys. One of the interesting things about ICPD is a steadfast refusal to acknowledge the declining fertility rate, often referred to as “demographic winter“ in many of the industrialized countries of the world — particularly in Western Europe.
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL — March/April
What to watch for: The newly-created Human Rights Council (HRC) is currently in a state of flux with new policies, procedures and guidelines under development. Our opponents are using this as an opportunity to promote their agenda. If the HRC succeeds in implementing a proposal to gain the authority to conduct a universal review of nations’ laws, it would give more compliance authority to conference treaties and threaten the sovereignty of nation.
The current high commissioner for human rights recently stated that she expects the HRC to pressure nations for compliance on sexual orientation and gender identity as human rights. Choices related to “sexual orientation” include approximately 22 behaviors (as stated by the American Psychiatric Association), such as pedophilia, exhibitionism, bisexuality, bestiality, and others.
It is necessary for UFI to be at the United Nations promoting the family and opposing the alarming, over-the-top policies emanating from the U.N. As always, we will rely heavily on social science, our professional staff, experienced volunteers and a steadfast determination to assure that we prevail. With your financial support, together we can create an invincible team that will work to preserve a future for the traditional family. Be part of that team today either by joining the Pennies-a-day Club or giving a one-time donation. Together, we can make a difference!
Warmly,
Carol Soelberg,
President United Families International