From family to families at the UN

The United Nations loves families. It just can't decide which model it likes best.

Each year the United Nations marks the “International Day of Families” – one of 59 such days on the UN calendar of feasts. It is commemorated on May 15.

In 1994, the UN held a Conference on the Family – one of the smallest in a decade of mega-conferences. Subsequently it was decided to set a day aside for its commemoration, but at some point the UN started celebrating “families” rather than “the family”. However, the word “families” is definitely not an improvement on “family.”

What is a family? The UN today endorses no definition; it is up to each country to determine. There is simply too much diversity, say its bureaucrats. They have many examples. There are the Scandinavian countries where cohabitation and out of wedlock births are common. (The illegitimacy rate has risen to 55 percent of live births in Norway.) There are African countries where polygamy is common. Indeed, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa has had five wives: one he divorced, another died, and the fifth he married in January of this year. There are Continental countries where divorced and remarried persons often have children from two or more spouses. Their “families” consist of a lot of “halves” – half-brothers and half-sisters. President Nicholas Sarkozy of France is currently married to his third wife and has children from both previous marriages.

Of course many countries do define the family – for data collection at least, if for nothing else, as in the case of the United States. According to the US Department of Commerce, “The term ‘family’ refers to a group of two or more persons related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together.” This definition is useful in compiling household data on a myriad of economic indicators. In 2008 the United States had 78.9 million families. Given the prevailing mores, it may be legitimate to wonder whether a more “inclusive” definition will surface at some point.

At the UN there are always events organized around its “days.” This year, one group of family NGOs (non-governmental organizations) organized a tripartite panel around the theme “Changing Families: Transformation and Continuity in Family Structure”. One of the panelists, perhaps representing the “transformation” element, stated boldly, loudly and clearly that shortly he would celebrate the 40th anniversary of his relationship with his partner, punctuating his presentation with hand gestures that manifested gold bracelets too numerous to count and surely greater than most women could ever own. He spoke of his community outreach to all “families”.

With compassion toward all, the UN nonetheless had got it right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 16 (3), “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.”

The family is in the singular – in the Declaration, in nature and in essence. What will it take for the UN – and governments – to take note?

Vincenzina Santoro is an international economist in New York. She represents the American Family Association of New York at the United Nations.

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