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COMMEMORATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE FAMILY by IRYNA KUROWYCKYJ On May 14, 1998, the New York NGO Committee on the Family celebrated the International Day of the Family in the Dag Hammerskjold Auditorium at the United Nations. The event was titled "The Family in the Millennium: New Hopes, New Image" and opened with a welcoming address by Lyutha As-Mughail, chief of the public liaison service of the New York Department of Public Information which co hosted the program. Of particular interest to those assembled, was the address of His Excellency Volodymyr Y. Yelchen- ko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Ukraine at the United Nations. Ambassador Yelchenko's remarks focused on family values as a universal and universally understandable theme. The Ambassador's speech was enlivened by citations from ancient fables and contemporary educators, underscoring that the concept of family is not only universal, but timeless. (Full text follows below). Members of the UNWLA attending the event were Nadia Shmigel and Iryna Kurowyckyj, (NGO representatives from the World Movement of Mothers) and Christia Nawrocky and Slava Rubel (NGO representatives of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations). It is a great honor and privilege to address you today. No matter what nations, traditions, religions and cultures you are representing, no matter how different are your ideas about fundamental life values, one of these values always remains common and understandable by all of us. I mean family. There is an old and well known story dating back to ancient times. A powerful conqueror surrounded a city with his troops and kept it under siege for a long time. City dwellers put up a staunch and prolonged resistance, but their forces became weaker and weaker and they were doomed to die. And the conqueror, before making a final blow which would ruin the city decided to show his generosity: he ordered his warriors to allow all women and children to leave the city. He also permitted each woman to take with her the most valuable things, but only those things which a woman could carry herself, and he gave them all very little time to prepare. When the city gates opened and the women began to file out of the city, the conqueror and his warriors saw that each woman was carrying on her shoulders her husband. And these were the most valuable and precious things possessed by these women - their husbands and their families. I think there is a good deal of sense in this old story. It may also be said that the institution of family despite many pressures and challenges it has faced in our constantly changing world, has shown a remarkable vitality and resilience. It is a family that forms the basis of every society since every individual has a family origin and most people live within a family context throughout their life. An infant needs the family shelter during the time it requires for its development through childhood and adolescence and into adulthood. The very word family serves as a symbol of unity, stability and reliability. A family can be regarded as a system where each individual member lives in interrelation with other individuals. Thus, the well-being or pain of once member concerns the others too; if one family member identifies his or her role in a new way, it may change the whole family system. As American educator Felix Adler said, a family is a tiny society and the security of the whole large human society depends on the integrity of this small society. I can say that we save no effort to cope with this. A number of state institutions have been established in Ukraine to take care of the problems of the family, mothers and children — in particular, the Ministry for Family and Youth Affairs. The Ministry is the primary agency responsible for running a number of important state programs on social protection of the family. But this is, of course, just the beginning. Unfortunately, our restricted budget can not allocate enough money necessary to cover all expenses in this regard. But I can assure you that the political will and the understanding is there. Certainly, we are not magicians and cannot work wonders immediately in order to make all people happy simultaneously. But if our activity helps to prevent at least one bloodshed, to save somebody's life, to give food and shelter to someone, we may consider our mission in this world was not in vain. Dear friends, someone defined a family as the heart of the world's problems and at the Rubicon of its salvation, emphasizing that if it were possible to heal the family, it would be possible to heal the world. Let us join our efforts in this field. I thank you for your attention and wish happiness for all. God bless you and your families. ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ВЕРЕСЕНЬ 1998 15
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