A/CONF.171/13
English
Page 34
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5.9. Governments should formulate family-sensitive policies in the field of
housing, work, health, social security and education in order to create an
environment supportive of the family, taking into account its various forms and
functions, and should support educational programmes concerning parental roles,
parental skills and child development. Governments should, in conjunction with
other relevant parties, develop the capacity to monitor the impact of social and
economic decisions and actions on the well-being of families, on the status of
women within families, and on the ability of families to meet the basic needs of
their members.
5.10. All levels of Government, non-governmental organizations and concerned
community organizations should develop innovative ways to provide more effective
assistance to families and the individuals within them who may be affected by
specific problems, such as extreme poverty, chronic unemployment, illness,
domestic and sexual violence, dowry payments, drug or alcohol dependence,
incest, and child abuse, neglect or abandonment.
5.11. Governments should support and develop the appropriate mechanisms to
assist families caring for children, the dependent elderly and family members
with disabilities, including those resulting from HIV/AIDS, encourage the
sharing of those responsibilities by men and women, and support the viability of
multigenerational families.
5.12. Governments and the international community should give greater attention
to, and manifest greater solidarity with, poor families and families that have
been victimized by war, drought, famine, natural disasters and racial and ethnic
discrimination or violence. Every effort should be made to keep their members
together, to reunite them in case of separation and to ensure access to
government programmes designed to support and assist those vulnerable families.
5.13. Governments should assist single-parent families, and pay special
attention to the needs of widows and orphans. All efforts should be made to
assist the building of family-like ties in especially difficult circumstances,
for example, those involving street children.
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