PROFAMILY COALITION FIRST EU CONFERENCE in BRUSSELS

Representatives from 32 countries attended the first EU wide pro-life, pro-family conference, hosted by Familiokratos Coalition (Family Power Coalition), which was held in Brussels from 26th to 30th of June 2011.

Leading organisations, from the 32 countries, shared recent successes and breakthroughs and discussed how their EU wide coalition would support initiatives and strategy, both at Member States and at EU level, to advance pro-life and pro- family legislation.

Speakers at the Familiokratos Coalition Conference included Congressman Christopher Smith who addressed the conference on the issue of “Advancing Legislation from a US Perspective and an Elected Official’s Viewpoint”;
Luca Volonte, EPP Chairman, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, addressed the conference on the issue of “Presenting a Persuasive Message”;
Marie Smith, director of Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues, USA, commented on “Challenges to Laws and Policies”.
Roger Kiska, legal counsel Alliance Defense Fund, talked on the Sovereignty of Member States and the Legal aspects of Hungary’s new Constitution, which protects life from the moment of conception and enshrines the concept of the natural family.

Spanish MEP Jaime Mayor Oreja invited and hosted Familiokratos Coalition. He took the floor alongside with Lazlo Tokes, Miroslav Mikolasik, Marian Harkin, Silvia Costa and Martin Kastler, as well as Csaba Sogor, together with the Qatar Foundation, Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development, on Wednesday 29th June at the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament, European Economic and Social Committee, The Council of Europe, UN Representative and USA Congressman Chris Smith addressed and met with the coalition.

Conference delegates agreed on the following three initiatives:

 To continue advancing pro-life and pro-family legislation in Europe aiming to protect children in the womb and uphold the family.
 Affirming the Right to Life, from conception to natural death, as a fundamental human right.
 Supporting Family, Marriage between a man and a woman and Parents’ Primary Rights, especially that of education of their children.



[©FAMILIOKRATOS COALITION, http://familiokratosen.blogspot.com/]

Polish Senators promote FAMILIOKRATOS call with UN Secretary General

From the Polish Senate:

after having adopted a resolution related to the Familiokratos Call, Members of the Polish Senate adressed their letter to the UN General Secretary Ban-Ki-Moon, via the UN Polish Ambassador.

List of signatories:

Piotr Łukasz Andrzejewski, Janina Fetlińska, Władysław Ortyl, Grzegorz Banaś, Piotr Kaleta, Kazimierz Jaworski, Wojciech Skrukiewicz, Tadeusz Skorupa, Henryk Górski, Witold Idczak, Norbert Krajczy, Ryszard Bender, Krzysztof Majkowski, Sławomir Sadowski, Grzegorz Wojciechowski, Adam Massalski, Stanisław Karczewski, Stanisław Piotrowicz

More than 220 000 signatures expected in Croatia

During two week ends in December Croatia has collected more that 200 000 signatures in favor of the Call. Since, 20000 more have been counted. Letters of support are still pouring by mail !

The signature collection in Croatia:

At the initiative of Grozd and some other civil organisations, Collection is Croatia last Sunday 7/12 was a big success:

Over 1500 places were opened for signature last Sunday not only in front of Catholic churches (90% of Croatians are Catholics) but also in front of orthodox churches, Christian reformed Calvinists, Pentecostal and evangelical churches, Serb orthodox churches and Macedonian orthodox churches, as well as Muslim mosks. The Jewish community Beth Israel also supported this initiative. The President of Justicia and Pax Croatia, Bishop Kosic, said "we have now a 30 years old law on abortion (inaugurated during communist time when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia) but since, politicians have not done anything to change this law. In the meantime, science has improved and we know more about the life of the unborn child. Human rights are not good in Croatia and they are jeopardized". The Great Mufti of Croatia Sevko Omerbasic launched the appeal also saying that Human rights in Croatia are jeopardized most of the time in this very moment. He asked all Muslims to sign the petition.

60 organisations are currently supporting the initiative. Some opposition movement protested verbally saying that this initiative was manipulating and misinterpreting the Universal Declaration on Human rights because this initiative was attacking women's right to abortion and homosexual's right to marriage. Parent's movements, which are very strong in Croatia, discredited this affirmation because they clearly showed that such a right is not part neither of Croatian law nor of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Parent's movements and minority groups which do not like value system of most Croatian citizens and try therefore to separate parents from school teaching, had strong discussion: Parent's movements are upholding "parent's prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children", including in school, according to Article 26 of the UDHR.

As there was not enough availability to sign, it has been decided that the collection will go on next Sunday.

5.4 millions families are supporting the Call in favour respect and dignity of life in the human family

As today the world celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Familiokratos coalition is proud to announce that it currently totals 5,4 million signatures for the call in favour respect and dignity of life in the human family.

The call states:

We, citizens of UN member states, in this year of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human rights (UDHR), adopted and proclaimed by the UN General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948,

Recalling that the UDHR is a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all Nations,

Bearing in mind that Human rights and dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity and justice constitute the spiritual and moral patrimony on which the union of Nations is based,

Stressing that due consideration must be given to:
- the right to life of every human being, from conception to natural death, each child having the right to be conceived, born and educated within the family, based on marriage between a woman and a man, the family being the natural and fundamental group unit of society,
- the right to be educated by his/her parents, who have a prior and fundamental right to choose - the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Therefore, we call upon governmental representatives, politicians, and all other decision-makers to interpret UDHR in the light of the above, in order to respect, promote and reinforce the commitment of their government in the UDHR, mainly by reaffirming that:

Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 16:
1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 25: 2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
Article 26: 3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
© Familiokratos coalition

Anna Záborská and the Familiokratos coalition calls for celebration of the family as the main promoter and guarantor of human rights

BRATISLAVA 25 OCTOBER 2008 – In the context of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Anna ZÁBORSKÁ, Slovak Member of the European Parliament (KDH), hosted a preparatory meeting in Bratislava under the patronage of Hans-Gert POETTERING (President of the European Parliament), Jacques BARROT (Vice-President of the European Commission) and Andrej DURKOVSKY (Major of Bratislava).

The meeting, commemorating the world's commitment to life and the family, gathered present and former Prime ministers, Ambassadors, UN delegates, as well as church leaders and NGO representatives, from 18 countries and from 4 continents, and formally adopted the text of an Appeal celebrating the family as the main promoter of human rights which has been signed by millions of families throughout all European countries.

On behalf of the participants, Anna ZÁBORSKÁ MEP presented the Call to the Ambassador of Gabon to the Holy See, H.E: Firmin MBOUTSOU. Gabon may transmit the Appeal to the Secretary General of the United Nations to be circulated to the Permanent Representatives of the UN Member States.

This intercultural meeting co-organised with the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development of the Qatar Foundation and co-sponsored by the Latin American Alliance for the Family (Caracas), the Africa Family Life Federation, the Family Research Council (Washington), the European Forum for Human Rights and the Family (FEFA, Brussels) the Sephoris Institute (Paris) and the Ladislas-Hanus-Fellowship (Bratislava), sums up all efforts pursued throughout Europe since the inter-parliamentary forum held in Warsaw on 12 May 2007 hosted by the president of the Polish Senate, then subsequently by NGOs who gathered in Strasbourg on the 10 December 2007 under the familiokratos-coalition which are since collecting signatures for the call in favour respect and dignity of life in the human family.

The Call has been supported by millions of families in all European countries and reads as follows:

We, citizens of UN member states, in this year of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human rights (UDHR), adopted and proclaimed by the UN General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948,

Recalling that the UDHR is a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all Nations,

Bearing in mind that Human rights and dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity and justice constitute the spiritual and moral patrimony on which the union of Nations is based,

Stressing that due consideration must be given to
the right to life of every human being, from conception to natural death, each child having the right to be conceived, born and educated within the family, based on marriage between a woman and a man, the family being the natural and fundamental group unit of society,
the right to be educated by his/her parents, who have a prior and fundamental right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Therefore, we call upon governmental representatives, politicians, and all other decision-makers to interpret UDHR in the light of the above, in order to respect, promote and reinforce the commitment of their government in the UDHR, mainly by reaffirming that:

Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 16:
1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 25: 2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
Article 26: 3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Speaking after the meeting, ZÁBORSKÁ said: "Some may think that the family is a construct of the modern state, charged by government with the feeding and shelter of children - but little else. It is in fact an institution older than any other in our world - it does not have its existence through any legislative act - and it is still the primary unit of our communities and the wider society."

"The family is where our next generation learn the basic values of right and wrong - values essential for the health of any society. It is where we learn through the example of those who gave us life how to serve those who have need. It is where we learn to give ourselves totally - and to give from the heart. The family is where our basic social relationships are placed in reality, and where we find the deepest needs of the human person satisfied in the praxis of the lived-out expression of our faith."

"As we come to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we celebrate the historic role that the family plays in drawing all these themes together and is acknowledged as the ultimate expression of our human dignity - the recognition of which is the bedrock of the UDHR."

"The family is a cultural anchor universal to all cultures."

ZÁBORSKÁ concluded: "The family is where we learn that the authentic role of the state is to serve its people; and not to reinvent humanity along the lines of some artificial ideology: the first and last sign of the approach of totalitarianism is the collapse of the family. Finally, we promote the family because it is the primary repository of love in our society, and to paraphrase Lao Tzu two and a half thousand years ago: 'When Love is gone, there's always justice; when justice is gone, there's always force'."

SENATOR ANDRZEJEWSKI SPEECH (in Polish)

SENATOR ANDRZEJEWSKI Publications

CALL IN FAVOR OF RIGHTS AND DIGNITY OF LIFE IN HUMAN FAMILY

©FAMILIOKRATOS

We, citizens of UN member states, in this year of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human rights (UDHR), adopted and proclaimed by the UN General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948,

Recalling that:
UDHR is a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all Nations,

Bearing in mind that:
Human rights, and dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity and justice constitute the spiritual and moral patrimony on which the union of Nations is based,

Stress that due consideration must be given to
the right to life of every human being, from conception to natural death, each child having the right to be conceived, born and educated within the family, based on marriage between a woman and a man, the family being the natural and fundamental group unit of society,
the right to be educated by his/her parents, who have a prior and fundamental right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Therefore, we call upon:
governmental representatives, politicians, and all other decision-makers to interpret UDHR in the light of the above, in order to respect, promote and reinforce the commitment of their government in the UDHR, mainly by reaffirming that:

Article 3:
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 16:
1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 25:
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
Article 26:
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

STRASBOURG, 10 DECEMBER 2007,

CALL IN FAVOR OF RIGHTS AND DIGNITY OF LIFE IN HUMAN FAMILY
©FAMILIOKRATOS COALITION



NAME, SURNAME, NATIONALITY FULL ADDRESS, COUNTRY