On the occasion of the International Day of Families, Association Familiale pour l’Education (AFE), in partnership with International Federation for Family Development (IFFD) and Social Promotion Foundation have successfully launched the Conference: “Family, The Face of Society” at SmallVille Hotel Badaro, on the May 23rd 2019, in Lebanon.
Two Distinguished International Speakers flew in specially from Spain: Leticia Rodriguez, Director of IFFD Family Enrichment, and Rosa Pich-Aguilera, Author of the Best-Seller “Comment être heureux avec 1,2,3… enfants” (How to be happy with 1, 2 ,3… children?), were welcomed by a full house and an enthusiastic audience.
The conference was held in presence of representatives from IFFD and Social Promotion Foundation, who traveled to Beirut specifically for this night.
Representatives from different sectors of the Lebanese government, society and the Diplomatic Corps also attended the conference, as well as young couples, professionals, entrepreneurs and keyplayers in the educational sector.
This conference was a special opportunity to raise awareness about family challenges and to promote appropriate action:
Jumana Trad, President of Social Promotion Foundation, described in her opening speech, Family as the basic unit and pillar of society. The Social Promotion Foundation in Lebanon supports the promotion of the “Family Enrichment” and civil society organizations such as AFE. The Foundation sees in the Family the ideal space for the development of the person, the construction of values of solidarity, freedom, responsibility and social participation.
Fadi Yarak, Director General Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Lebanon, stressed in his speech that the involvement of parents in the education of their children during the entire years of education is essential for the children’s stability and success and thus the entire society, confirmed by multiple studies and numbers. (SDG#4- Education).
Louise Vasdeboncoeur Aoun, AFE President, highlighted the importance to invest time and energy as parents for a better education for our children. ‘We need to start with ourselves as parents, training ourselves and working on this job “being a mother and a father”. Parenting can be better shaped thanks to the courses of Family Enrichment’.
Leticia Rodríguez, Director of IFFD Family Enrichment, presented the wide experience of this institution over the past 41 years, already supporting families in more than 70 countries from the five continents, providing couples with the tools to improve their family lives in order to thrive instead of struggling.
From 2011, IFFD has been doing research on the social role of families and dissemination of the results inside the United Nations, taking advantage of its privileged position as General Status Consultant. IFFD is working on the implementation of 8 out of the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of the 2030 Agenda.
Rosa Pich-Aguilera, Author of the best seller “Rosa, what’s your secret? Raising a large family with love”, communicated her cheerful enthusiasm and unique experience to the audience “‘We must find Happiness in our everyday life, in our homes and amongst our family members, together and every day”.