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 Fundación Promoción Social (FPS); have successfully launched the Conference: Family, The Face of Society at SmallVille Hotel Badaro on May 23rd 2019, at 8:00pm – 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” were welcomed by a full house and an enthusiastic audience.

The conference supported by the prestigious sponsors listed below, was held in presence of representatives from IFFD and FPS, 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:

Mrs. Joumana Trad, President of Social Promotion Foundation, described in her opening speech, Family as the basic unit and pillar of society. The Social Promotion Foundation (FPS) in Lebanon supports the promotion of “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.

Mr. Fadi Yarak, Director General Ministry of Education and Higher Education, stressed in his speech 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)

Mrs. 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’.

Mrs. 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) 2030.

Mrs. Rosa Pich, 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’. “Il faut apprendre à être heureux tous les jours, avec ton mari, tes enfants, dans ta famille et tous les jours”

Families are considered to be the basic unit of society and are essential for the achieving of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 & 4 (Health & Education).

The International Federation for Family Development (IFFD) created in 1978 is a non-governmental, independent, and non-profit federation, whose primary mission is to support families through training. It is considered an important partner for the UN Division for Social Policy Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Their programs are implemented in 68 countries through local NGOs.

The Association Familiale pour l’Education (AFE) was created for this purpose by Lebanese families in 2008 and since then has run over 15 Family Enrichment courses and many workshops each given in a period of three months for 200 families in Jounieh and Beirut.

The Social Promotion Foundation (FPS) in Lebanon supports the promotion of Family Enrichment and initiatives of civil society organizations such as AFE.The mission of the Social Promotion Foundation is to ensure that all people can live according to their human dignity. Lebanon is the first country in the Middle East region in which the Foundation began to work and is still present until now. Since 1991, FPS has implemented 44 projects in different fields.

Recently FPS has implemented a Project in Lebanon in favor of an inclusive education that promotes equal access to education for children with special needs, some of which: Teacher training for 24 schools, Training modules in psychomotricity, orthopedagogy, and speech therapy, awareness sessions for parents and students and psychosocial support staff within public schools.

More info:  www.iffd.org  www.promocionsocial.org

Photos & Video of the Event by RALF