Family General Assembly

The Secretary-General’s report on the follow-up to the thirtieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family highlights how families are being affected by major global “megatrends”, technological change, demographic change, urbanization, migration and climate change, and presents good practices from Member States on family policymaking (2020–2024). It finds that integrating family-oriented approaches through supportive services, inclusive planning and participatory governance has been essential to protecting families, strengthening resilience and advancing the 2030 Agenda. 

The report underscores that policies promoting early childhood development, parenting support, integrated service delivery, work-family balance and a fairer distribution of household responsibilities contribute to poverty reduction, food security, educational attainment and gender equality. It calls for greater efforts to empower families as partners in policy design and implementation and recommends a holistic social development approach aligned with the Doha Political Declaration, recognizing the family as a key enabler of inclusive and equitable societies.

As part of the preparations for and observance of the thirtieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family, the report is focused on the impact of climate change on the well-being of families, highlighting challenges relating to food and water scarcity, worsening physical and mental health, increased intrafamilial violence and child marriage. 

In the report, the Secretary-General focuses on the role of families in climate action, as food producers, educators, consumers and advocates, and elaborates on policy implications, including under updated nationally determined contributions. He also highlights good practices in family policymaking at the national and regional levels and describes the activities carried out in preparation for and observance of the anniversary at all levels. He concludes the report with recommendations to strengthen the resilience of families against shocks, including by investing in education on climate change and early warning systems about adverse climate events; to enact policies that enable families to make environmentally friendly consumer choices through various socioeconomic and financial incentives; and to support evidencebased research on the impact of megatrends and complex crises on families, as part of the follow-up to the anniversary and beyond.

As part of the preparations for the thirtieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family, the report focuses on analysis of demographic trends and their impact on families and family-oriented policies. With regard to fertility decisions and maternal mortality reduction, the Secretary-General recommends provision of quality education, ensuring access to reproductive health services and family planning and investment in health-care facilities in remote areas. In terms of work-family balance, the Secretary-General suggests investing in flexible working arrangements, parental leave and high quality and affordable childcare.

With regard to ageing, recommendations are offered on social security and pensions, family-based care systems for older persons and institutional health-care provision, especially long-term care. Moreover, the importance of investment in intergenerational facilities, such as intergenerational shared sites and multigenerational living arrangements, is emphasized. The Secretary-General furthermore describes the current state of preparations for the observance of the thirtieth the anniversary of the International Year of the Family at all levels

As part of the preparations for the thirtieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family, the Secretary-General focuses on the analysis of urbanization and migration trends and their impacts on families and family-oriented policies. He furthermore describes the current state of preparations for the observance of the anniversary at all levels.

The present report, which is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 75/153, contains information on the preparations for the observance of the thirtieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2024 and an analysis of the impact of new technologies on families. The report is also focused on the potential of digital technologies to help to enable the achievement of work-family balance and on the role of such technologies in promoting and facilitating parenting education.