International Day of Families 2024

We will be joining in with this year’s theme, by discussing what we can do to be more climate aware, and how we can encourage our wider families to adopt more sustainable habits.

Background

The International Day of Families serves as a platform to raise worldwide awareness of the current social, economic or demographic issues impacting families. It encourages global dialogue around the issues it identifies, continuing the legacy of the original International Year of the Family. Past annual themes have included “Families and Volunteers: Building Social Cohesion” (2001), “Families and Persons with Disabilities” (2007), “Ensuring work family balance” (2012) and “Men in charge? Gender equality and children’s rights in contemporary families” (2015).

Climate Action

The UN has always recognised that families are a cornerstone of society, as families play a crucial role in the transfer of social norms and societal values from one generation to the next. As part of this year’s theme of “Families & Climate Change”, the UN has highlighted the particular vulnerability of families.

The UN is also stressing the importance of family-centred policies, and of integrating cross-generational strategies into climate action. Such approaches support families to model climate awareness and to encourage the wider family to develop better, more sustainable habits. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) will be releasing the background paper “Climate Change and Families” by Professor Lena Dominelli, emphasising the pivotal role of families in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. We look forward to reading the paper’s recommendations.

You can read more about the UN’s plans to observe the day here.