Reaching Family Empowerment

The central goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development focus on ending poverty, promoting shared economic prosperity, social development and people’s well-being while protecting the environment. The International Federation for Family Development (IFFD) has released a report entitled Reaching Family Empowerment: Leaving no one behind means leaving no family behind.

Families remain at the centre of social life ensuring the well-being of their members, educating and socialising children and youth and caring for young and old. From a policy perspective, taking families into account in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has a potential to speed up the achievements of many targets relating to individuals’ well-being.

In particular, family-oriented policies can contribute to the achievement of SDGs 1 to 5 relating to doing away with poverty and hunger; ensuring healthy lives and promoting of well-being for all ages; ensuring educational opportunities throughout the lifespan and achieving gender equality.

The theme of this year’s observance of the International Day of Families focuses on SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Families have a unique role in ensuring health and well-being of children. Parents can improve children’s health outcomes by providing emotional support, ensuring preventive and sick healthcare visits, including timely immunisations and proper treatment in times of illness. In turn, a number of policies and programmes can effectively assist parents in ensuring proper care and thus better health outcomes for their children.

To most effectively reach the SDGs and ensure that no one is left behind, we are arguing that we will have to do a better job in leaving no family behind.

Download the IFFD report on Reaching Family Empowerment.

Learn more about our work on youth at un.social.org/family