International Day of Families

May 15 is observed as the International Day of Families and the theme for 2022 is is “Families and Urbanization” which aims to raise awareness on the importance of sustainable, family-friendly urban policies.

The International Labour Organisation’s Convention No. 156 (C156 - Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981) seeks to mitigate instances where men and women workers whose responsibilities for caring and supporting their dependent children and/or other members of their immediate family, may restrict their possibilities of preparing for, entering, participating in or advancing in economic activity.

However, the Convention was adopted in recognition of the fact that earlier Conventions did not expressly cover distinctions made on the basis of family responsibilities, and that the problems of workers who must care for family members affect society at large and should be taken into account in national policies.

Many of the problems facing all workers are aggravated in the case of workers who must care for family members, and there is a need to improve the conditions of the latter both by measures responding to their special needs and by measures designed to improve the conditions of workers in general.

SDG-1 - Poverty eradicationFurthermore, the United Nations states that urbanization is one of the most important megatrends shaping our world and the life and wellbeing of families worldwide and therefore indicates that sustainable urbanization is related to the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets, such as:

• SDG-3 - Good health and well-being
• SDG-11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• SDG-10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries

These SDGs and their targets depend on how well urbanization is managed towards benefitting families and enhancing the well-being of all generations living in cities.

For more information, persons can contact the International Affairs Unit:

• Level 6, Tower C, International Waterfront Centre, 1A Wrightson Road, Port of Spain
  
  
• (868) 625-8478

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