wfn.org | PROPOSAL INVOLVING SOCIAL MEASURES IN DEFENSE OF THE FAMILY

[George Gundrey <ggundrey@igc.apc.org>]

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               ALC NEWS SERVICE

480/95

SAO LEOPOLDO, Brazil, Dec. 12 (ALC). Combatting poverty and corruption,
reforming the education system and reorganizing health and social security
services were some of the measures proposed at the Hispanic-American
Conference on the family held Nov. 28 to Dec. 3 in this city. 
 
These proposals are contained within the "Sao Leopoldo Letter," which also
lobbies for the family institution to be empowered as "a social space for
the integral formation of peoples and the humanization of society" which
cannot be substituted. 
 
Dr. Marco Antonio Fetter, president of the Conference, affirmed that the
aim of the document is to "contribute in order that governments be
concerned about a social policy," and to also call on civil society to
"rebel against apathy."
 
It also denounced that in Brazil, a country which currently has 23 million
street children, there is no social policy. "There are laws, but the state
does nothing to protect the family," he added.
 
Fetter is a sociologist and works in the Documentation and Investigation
department (CEDOPE) of the University do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS),
where he has carried out research related to the family since 1970.
 
The conference was held on the UNISINOS campus with the participation of
government representatives, students, researchers and professionals from 37
countries. The programme included talks, panel discussions, round tables
and debates.
 
Seventeen entities supported the event including UNICEF, the International
Labour Organization (ILO), FAO, the Panamerican Health Organization, the
Organization of American States and the Brazilian Bishops' Conference.
 
The "Sao Leopoldo Letter" was presented Dec. 3 and will be delivered to
governments of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Spain,
Portugual, Italy and France, as a proposal for a social policy based on the
family.
 
A "Hispanic-American Network of Work with Families" was created which will
work throughout the zone. By the end of the century the population is
calculated to reach 500 million.
 
Fetter assured that the family is not in crisis, but rather its members.
"The crisis pertains to individuals and society, not to the family," he
said.
 
According to the sociologist, people are happier at work than at home,
despite the fact that this environment is increasingly demanding and
absorbing. "The world of work is implacable in terms of the social and
family world," he maintained.
 
Fetter forecasts a cooperative-type family for the future in which each
member will be responsible for a function and sector within the home. "In
this type of family, with well defined roles, a joint project will once
again exist."
 
He added that today "it is highly complicated to be married to a person,"
and that without a better and just distribution of wealth there will be no
family protection.
 
In June 1996, the Population and Family area of CEDOPE-UNISINOS will
organize the I Brazilian conference on the family and in November, the I
World Conference of Family Institutions (END). 

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  Fernando Oshige             Latin American and Caribbean
 foshige@alc.org.pe            Communication Agency (ALC)
Telephone (51-1) 2211488           Jose Maria Eguren 189
   Telefax 2212877                      Lima 18 Peru