World Congress of Families V Report. Day One: Morning Session

World Congress of Families V opened on August 10, 2009 at 10:30 AM at the RAI Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The theme of the opening session was “Modern Families, Traditional Values.”.

The World Congress of Families is the premier gathering of individuals and organizations that promote the concept of the “Natural Family” from around the world.

Dr. Allan Carlson, the founder and international secretary of World Congress of Families spoke on the topic “How We Got Here: A History of The Natural Family.“

According to Carlson, the term “Natural Family “evolved in large part, from Article 16 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads: “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state.”

Another high point of the morning session came when Theresa Okafor with the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage spoke of misconceptions that are having a detrimental effect on the development of African countries such as the misconception that diminished populations bring about economic prosperity and the misconception that “sexual responsibility and behavior change” have no place in the battle against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The following individuals delivered addresses during the morning session:

• Minister Andre Rouvoet from the Netherlands; Rouvoet is the leader of the Christian Union political party and the Minister for Youth and Family,
• Annemiek van Woudenberg, an advisor and developer of Centers for Youth and Family,
• Simon Polinder with the Local Organizing Committee for World Congress of Families V,
• Katarzyna Mazela, the vice-president of the Forum of Polish Women,
• Dr. Allan Carlson, the founder and international secretary of World Congress of Families,
• Martha Gomez Serrano from Mexico who helped organize World Congress of Families II in Mexico City in 2004,
• Theresa Okafor, the CEO of Life League Nigeria and a director of the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH),
• Anna Zaborska, a member of the European Parliament and the head of the – Women Right’s and Equality Commission,
• Marika Bertule from Latvia and the Manager and developer of a Crisis Pregnancy Center.

World Congress of Families V Report. Day One: Afternoon Session

Family and Education, Family and Professional Help and Marriage, Sex and the Rights of Families were the topics of discussion at the World Congress of Families V afternoon session on August 10, 2009 at the RAI Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The World Congress of Families is the premier gathering of individuals and organizations that promote the concept of the “Natural Family” from around the world.

One of the highlights of the afternoon session was a presentation by Dr. Pat Fagan, a Senior Fellow at the Family Research Council, titled “The Effects of Child Care (Day Care) on the Social and Psychological Development of Children.”

Fagan, stressed the importance of the early development of the Mother-Child relationship to the future psychological development of the child and, quoting Dr. Sigmund Freud, claimed that “the Mother-Child relationship is ‘unique, without parallel, established unalterably for a whole lifetime as the first and strongest love-object and as the prototype of all later love-relations.’”

Fagan, citing a psychological study further contended that children from homes in which the mother worked outside of the home were more likely to be “nominated by peers for hitting and being mean.”

Marie-Claire Hernandez, a founder and former President of the organization Family & Society, in Mexico, spoke on the “Threats to the Family from Addition to Internet Pornography” and said that exposing a child to pornography is like “having drugs in the kitchen cupboard for school lunch boxes.”

According to Hernandez, early exposure heightens the risk of pornography addition: “Children become easy prey, and once the addition takes hold, it quickly converts to a loss of freedom.”

William L Saunders, Senior Council at Americans United for Life, delivered a speech on “Human Rights and Parental Rights.” Citing the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Saunders claimed that States act contrary to their best interests when they stray from the role of protecting the family.

Saunders: “If the State presumes to usurp the rights of parents to choose the education of their own children, it damages the family, violates its own obligations, and undermines the foundation of a just society and State.”

World Congress of Families V will continue through the evening of August 12, 2009.