The Convention on the Rights of the Family presented in the UN

Adobe Stock

An international conference on the importance of the family for society and the need for its effective legal protection was held at the UN headquarters in New York. The event took place on the occasion of the International Family Day. At the conference, the Ordo Iuris Institute presented the draft Convention on the Rights of thr Family.

DRAFT TEXT OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE FAMILY

The Institute was represented by Rozalia Kielmans-Ratyńska, Director of the Centre for International Law, and Karina Walinowicz, Director of Centre for Religious Freedom. The presented draft Convention is based on fundamental values such as the protection of life and the identity of marriage. It also guarantees the most important rights of spouses, parents and children. It contains provisions to combat domestic violence.

“During the event we noticed that groups such as women and children have their dedicated international conventions, yet family - one of the most important groups of society, thanks to which women and children can develop both socially and economically - has no legal protection in the form of an international treaty. We emphasized that it is now high time to guarantee the protection of family rights by adopting the Convention on the Rights of the Family,” said Rozalia Kielmans-Ratyńska.

One of the purposes of the “We need family” conference was to stress the importance and role of family for the surrounding reality, including all cultures, religions and traditions all over the world. It was recalled that states are obliged to defend the family by protecting the right to life, the parents’ rights to bring up children in accordance with their convictions, protecting marriage in national legislation and highlighting the protective role of family to its members, in particular in the context of combating poverty and violence in the world. The event was divided into three panels. The first was led by representatives of states, the second by scientists and the third by representatives of social organisations.

The delegations of certain countries, such as the Holy See and the USA, and representatives of expert organisations, including Ordo Iuris, called on the UN to protect family and defend marriage. The delegations committed themselves to supporting families in their countries and to take all initiatives to strengthen the family on an international forum, where it is under an unprecedented attack.

Threats resulting from the systematic violation or reduction of parents' rights in many countries and the access of children to pornographic content were indicated during the meeting. Attention was also paid to the issue of sex crimes online, the victims of which are also children. Studies were presented to indicate a close link between the bonds of marriage between men and women and the stability and prosperity of the family and societies. It was emphasised that the threat faced by the modern family is also caused by the spread of LGBT and gender ideologies, aimed at redefining the importance of family and marriage. It was pointed out that it is the duty of the states and the international community to defend the family, respecting its natural structure as well as its inherent and inalienable rights.

This conference is of particular importance in relation to the UN policy that often promotes anti-family actions and postulates. In the last decades, the organisation has been dominated by trends that weaken the family and legal guarantees for its protection, and threaten its safe functioning in society.