The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 1994 as the “International Year of the Family”. The basic objectives of IYF include stimulating local, national and international actions as part of a sustained long-term effort to increase awareness of family issues among governments as well as in the private sector. IYF would serve to highlight the importance of families, increase a better understanding of their functions and problems; promote knowledge of the economic, social and demographic processes affecting families and their members; and focus attention upon the rights and responsibilities of all family members.

In the United Nations instruments, the family is referred to as the basic unit of society, it is appreciated for the important socio-economic functions that it performs. In spite of the many changes in society that have altered its role and functions. continues to provide the natural framework for the emotional. financial and material support essential to the growth and development of its members, particularly infants and children, and for the care of other dependents including the elderly, disabled and infirm.

The family remains a vital means of preserving and training cultural values. In the broader sense, it! can, and often does, indicate, train, motivate and support its individual members, thereby investing in their future growth and acting as vital resources for development.

The official IYF emblem has been chosen to be used in promoting public awareness of the goals and purposes of IYF. The simple design consists of a heart sheltered by a roof, linked by another heart, to symbolize life and love in a home where one finds warmth, caring, security, togetherness, tolerance and acceptance. The open design is meant to indicate continuity with a hint of uncertainty. The brushstroke with its open line roof completes an abstract symbol representing the complexity of the family viewed as the building block of society.