Saturday, 15 May 2021: Every May 15 is set aside by the United Nations, (UN), to honour the importance of families.

Families—both traditional and non-traditional—are the foundation of society and an individual’s most formative years are spent with families and those people are likely the most important people in one’s lives, so they should be celebrated.

The International Day of Families is founded by the United Nations in 1994.

The UN believed families are important enough to recognize them through a day of observance. The organisation began to recognize this in the 1980s as the Secretary General promoted awareness among decision-makers and the public and went on to establish this day of observance.

Each year, a unique family-focused theme is selected to address world-wide challenges around education, poverty, health, and work/family balance, just to name a few.

According to the United Nations, the theme for the 2021 observance of the International Day of Families is tagged “Families and New Technologies”. This year’s celebration focuses on the role of digital technologies and their impact on the social development and well-being of all.

The family unit began with the first humans and while families today may look different than they did thousands of years ago, they are as equally important now as they were then. Communities all over the world face obstacles that jeopardize the stability of the family.

Thus, the foundation created in a family has been shown in numerous studies to dramatically impact a child’s success or otherwise. The more stable the family environment for a child, the more likely they will be healthier – both mentally and physically.

In the words of Michael J. Fox “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.”  

Hence, a family is the basic and most important institution of a society. A nation is built on the family system and its major role is to train and mould characters. It is the place where we receive our first education and where values and other traits are learned. It is, therefore, our responsibility to develop the right attitudes towards our families, because a family in harmony will prosper in everything.

International Day of Families is therefore an occasion for us to celebrate connections among all members of the constellation that make up our family. It is also an opportunity to reflect on how they are affected by social and economic trends, and what we can do to strengthen our families in response.

A wide range of events are often organized at local, national and international levels to mark the International Day of Families. These include: workshops, seminars and policy meeting for public officials. Exhibitions and organized discussions to raise awareness of the annual theme are not left out. There are also educational sessions for children and young people as well as the launch of campaigns for public policies to strengthen and support family units.

In some countries, tool kits are created to help people organize celebrations aimed at a particular section of the population, such as school children or young adults.

International Day of Families provides us with a golden opportunity to express gratitude towards our family for the love they have showered upon us and the sacrifices they have made to shape us into a better person.

In spite of our busy schedules, let’s spend time today finding ways to protect and celebrate the family unit in the society by starting at home with our own.

Happy Family day!