"Ensuring work-family balance " International year of Families 2012 theme.

Family issues became an object of increasing attention at the United Nations during the 1980s. In 1983, acting on the recommendation of the Commission for Social Development at its twenty-eighth session, the Economic and Social Council, in its resolution on the role of the family in the development process(1983/23), requested that the Secretary-General "enhance awareness among decision makers and public of the problems and needs of the family, as well as effective ways of meeting those needs." In its resolution 1985/29 of 29 May 1985, the Council invited the General Assembly to consider the possibility of including "an item entitled 'Families in the development process', with a view to considering a possible request to the Secretary-General to initiate a process of development of global awareness of the issues involved."
Subsequently, acting on the recommendation of the Commission for Social Development at its thirtieth session and the Council at its first regular session of 1987 (resolution 1987/42 of 28 May 1987), the Assembly, in its resolution 42/134 of 7 December 1987, invited "all States to make their views known concerning the possible proclamation of an international year of the family and to offer their comments and proposals." It also requested "the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its forty-third session a comprehensive report, based on the comments and proposals of Member States, on the possible proclamation of such a year and other ways and means to improve the position and well-being of the family and to intensify international co-operation as part of global efforts to advance social progress and development".
1994 was proclaimed the International Year of the Family by the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution 44/82 of 9 December 1989.

Event for 2012

Panel discussion on “Ensuring work-family balance”

Organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in cooperation with the NY NGO Committee on the Family
Tuesday, 15 May, 2012
Conference Room 6, 1:15 – 2:45 p.m.
United Nations, New York

Programme

• Moderator
  Professor Margaret O’Brien
  Co-Director, Centre for Research on the Child and Family
  University of East Anglia
• Dr. Jody Heymann
  Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Social Policy
  McGill University
  Families at Work: What we Know about Conditions Globally
• Dr. Meejung Chin
  Department of Child Development & Family Studies
  Seoul National University
  Demographic Changes and Work-Family Balance Policies in East Asia
• Dr. Corina Rodríguez Enríquez
  Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas,
  Centro Interdiciplinario para el Estudio de Políticas Públicas, Argentina
  Work-family balance issues in Latin America: a Roadmap for National Care Systems
• Dr. Nurper Ulkuer Chief, Early Childhood Development Unit
  United Nations Children’s Fund
  The Importance of Quality Child Care for Work-Family Balance
• Discussion

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