Strategies for increasing support for the Family in the Technical Cooperation Programmes of the International Organizations.

By Syed Shahid Husain

I feel truly privileged to be called upon to address this distinguished gathering today. For the past few months we have been getting some encouraging information about the Brigham Young University and the activities of its various entities, notably the Centre for the Preservation of Ancient Religions, and, of course, more recently, the NGO Family Voice which has taken the commendable initiative of sponsoring this World Family Policy forum this week. In fact, not long ago, your distinguished director, Ms Kathryn Balinforth, had almost caught us by the neck when she lobbied very persuasively about some noteworthy elements in United Nations draft resolutions on the issues of Youth and of human rights. And it has been a pleasure to attend to these legitimate and mutually felt concerns in whatever manner possible.

At today's session it is my privilege to shed light, and share thoughts, on the question of "Strategies for Increasing Support for the Family in the technical cooperation programmes of international organizations. I imagine I was identified for this chore because of my past and current association with two of the World's largest intergovernmental organizations- the United Nations Organization, which I served for thirty three years in different parts of the World, principally in the economic and social developmental spheres, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which I have the honor to serve presently, at its Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York. I am glad to say that the Permanent Observer of the OIC, His Excellency Ambassador Mokhtar Lamani, my senior colleague, mentor and boss is also with us here today, demonstrating the value he personally attaches to the concept of family by having his wonderful Lady, Madam Lamani by his side.

Mr. Chairman,

As we glide into the substance of our discussion, it would be relevant to recall that in accordance with common beliefs, at least among the followers of the three major heavenly religions, namely Islam, Christianity and Judaism, the homo sapian's dissension on earth commenced in a family environment. Both Adam and Eve came from heaven to earth, together, as man and wife and, subsequently, with their offsprings, they laid down the foundation of the family such as it universally remains in practice today. Yes, I am conscious of the fact that some variations, even deviations in the family's structure are now being tried by those who want to venture into man-made alternatives. But the structure that came with Adam and Eve was no man-made experiment but God­sent prescription for the development and progress of the human society on earth.

The purpose of going into this aspect, Mr. Chairman, was to remind ourselves of the fact that the basic structure of the family- husband, wife and children- has its historical and sociological origin in the birth of the human society itself. That the basic family structure has expanded over time from the nuclear to the extended unit, and then into homesteads, villages, towns, cities and countries, is something that is also a historical and sociological fact and universally applicable to all forms of human settlements in our World today.

The family constitutes the basic social unit of society where the role of the individual vis-a-vis others is established for the first time; where the rights and obligations are conferred upon the individual also for the first time. The process of learning comes into play and both the acquisition of knowledge and experience go into the formation of character, constituting the early steps towards the grooming of not only decent and dependable members of the family but also of cooperative and productive members of society. This early process of learning becomes the springboard for future roles of leadership first within the family and later on in social and professional spheres outside the family. The family, then, is the basic and delicate unit of society upon whom the quality and strength of the whole society rests. Strengthen the family and the society will grow stronger. Weaken the family and the opposite would happen to society. Educate the family, and the society will emerge culturally advanced and imaginative. Provide medical and health facilities to the family and the society will be healthier and productive. Improve the family's environment and the society will emerge free of tensions and attendant social ills. Conversely, tamper with decent family values, and the society will experience social jolts. And experiment with dangerous alternative styles and structures in family and the society will go down tumbling in a downward spiral.

At this stage in my presentation, I would turn, momentarily, to religion since I find its stand on the issue of family quite consistent with the analysis. A story in the holy Quran, which I believe is common to the holy Bible and the holy Torah, is about Prophet Lut whose nation had gotten addicted to an alternative life style. God Almighty, after giving them every chance to repent, destroyed them with a heavy shower of stones. Even Prophet Lut's wife, who apparently had secretly indulged into that practice, was not spared. And the society was thus cleansed of what the Almighty regarded as a social menace. While I would not be able to prescribe the same treatment for those who are indulging in similar life styles in some places in the World today, I would, nevertheless, point out the societal dangers that are inherent in arbitrarily departing from the delicate path of nature in pursuing family lives. I believe we owe it to the present and future generations to attend to the issue with the seriousness this deserves so that the family, as the basic unit for the formation of character, and the foundation stone of healthy societal progress, may be protected from the dangers that are inherent in such deviations.

The issue of family is now being widely recognized as a factor in the development process; a fact that is reflected in national development plans and programmes of technical cooperation of intergovernmental organizations, regional and global financial institutions and bilateral donors. Yet, it suffers frequently from a lack of clarity and direction, inadequacy of resources and ad hoc prioritizations. Sometimes, the necessity to distribute scarce resources among competing sectoral interests restrict the ability of planners to direct the required levels of inputs towards education, housing, health, rehabilitation of the handicapped, employment etc. On the other hand, the construction of prestigious infra-structures and projects of urban, as distinct from rural, development, not to mention defense expenditures, often claim the bulk of the resources of national budgets with little left for addressing social needs; and the family remains the sufferer. An example from personal experience may be shared with you.

As the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in an African country, I was called upon to assist the Government in building an industrial estate. The feasibility study had been promising and a project to construct the industrial estate had been given high national priority. Even a major bilateral donor was prepared to support with additional financing. The Industrial Estate emerged in record time with the necessary infrastructure, factory shells, link roads, water supply, electricity and telephones. Foreign and domestic investors soon occupied the factory spaces. What were missing were workers' houses, schools, a hospital and day-care centers for working mothers. The capital loans had made no provisions for these services, nor were there any provisions made for the recurrent expenditures that these services, when established by some means, would accrue. The result was hardships for workers who had to travel from long distances to come to work in the newly constructed factories. At one point an investor complained to me about lack of punctuality and unreliability of the workers although he admitted that there were handicaps for them and their families. It was later realized, during an evaluation exercise, that the planning had been hasty and better results would have been realized from earlier attention to the provision of housing, schools, health clinic etc. And an important lesson was learnt.

These and other considerations have figured in the objectives that emerged from the United Nations International Year of the Family in 1995. As a result, the role and interest of the family have appeared in the advocacy statements and declaration of the various thematic conferences held in the nineties, notably the World Summit for Children; the UN Conference on Environment and Development; the World Conference on Human Fights; the International Conference on Population and Development; the World Summit for Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women and Habitat 11. All of them have contained recommendations and provisions related to family issues that are seen as integral components of development.

Similar approaches are being considered in the OIC and its specialized and affiliated institutions, notably the Islamic Development Bank, the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries, and the Islamic Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, all of whom are developing programmes of technical cooperation for, and among, the OIC member States in different spheres of economic and social development. In these programmes particular attention is being devoted to the development of human resources and, in that context, to the issue of the family and its needs in the whole development process.

I should add here that in the race for enhanced quality of life, standards of expectations are rising even in countries that are still in rather earlier stages of development, giving way to greater pressures on dwindling resources. In appreciation of this anomaly, an exhausted planner was heard the other day saying "keeping peace in the family now requires patience, love, understanding and at least two television sets". While this may not be quite true of the level of expectations in many developing countries at this time, the information highway and particularly the internet and CNN factors, may turn out to be more influential and precursors of revolutions of rising expectations as we move toward the gateway to the next millennium. A great deal of work, therefore, has to be done to rationalize, prioritize and address the needs of the family in programmes of social and economic development at the national, regional and global levels. Towards that goal, the role of international organizations in catalizing national efforts will remain crucial, requiring renewed strategies to enhance the support for the family in their respective technical cooperation programmes. A few thoughts in this direction would be the following:

First: it would be important to direct energies and resources towards national capacity building efforts so that the "dependency syndrome" that is becoming the fashion, and a cause of increasing donor fatigue, may give way to self-reliance in development matters.

Second: development programmes and projects should increasingly remain "people and family centered" rather than merely sectoral target oriented. This will direct the benefits of development, to people and families, and thus to humanity-at-large, rather than to the limited interest groups that have been clever and influential enough to clinch the advantages.

Third: age old family values and religious and communal practices that have traditionally kept the nuclear family together, and the extended family closer, need to be better understood, and, as far as possible, institutionalized and absorbed in modern support structures as necessary adjuncts to governmental and societal machinisms for family support. This will revive and reinforce the human and humane elements in family support activity, something that is being otherwise lost in the maze of bureaucratic procedures and entitlement based actions, and

Fourth: there should be accelerated dissemination and exchange of ideas and experiences on family issues, and reinforced networking with concerned partners in governments and societal institutions, so that ideas may be shared, and enlightenment may be gained on ways to strengthen family-centered components of policies and programmes as part of an integrated, comprehensive approach to development.

These, Mr. Chairman, have been some random attempts to delve into the issues that are before us today. What I have briefly presented is mere food for thought.

Thank you very much for your attention. I am pleased and honored to be with you today.

Statement of Syed Shahid Husain, Senior Adviser, Permanent Observer Mission of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to the United Nations, New York, delivered before the World Family Policy Forum at the Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, on Wednesday, 13 January, 1999.

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