A strong family structure is conducive to the well-being of its members and of society at large. It is within the family that children can learn positive values that will guide them for the rest of their lives, and it is within the family that people can learn key lessons about equality, tolerance and shared responsibility. While families are engines of development, they are also its beneficiaries. Where development is slow or absent, a family's ability to meet the needs of its members will be impaired. And where development is undermined by conflict, and instability prevails, families are undermined as well, robbing societies of an essential building block for peace and prosperity.
Families can be real bastions of humane values and human progress.
Let us do our utmost to create the conditions families need to fully realize their potential.