SoHE Professor Karen Bogenschneider spoke on September 18 at the United Nations in Geneva on a panel addressing the protection of family well-being and human rights. In this event sponsored by the Human Rights Council, Bogenschneider discussed best practices for strengthening family-centered policies and programs. In keeping with the mission of the School of Human Ecology to help people solve real problems, Bogenschneider explained how the Family Impact Seminars have been able to move beyond family rhetoric to enhancing the reality of families’ lives by building better public policies.
Over 60 statements on protecting families and their members were presented by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), federations, and nations including Africa, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Maldives, Montenegro, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, Vietnam, and Zambia.
Professor Bogenschneider’s comments and reflections will be published by the International Federation for Family Development, an organization of non-governmental, non-denominational, non-profit, and independent/private family enrichment centers. This publication will reach 1,000 academics, politicians, and civil society representatives in 87 countries.
The other panelists included Aslan Khuseinovich of Russia, a member of the Committee on the Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; Hiranti Wijemanne of Sri Lanka,a member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child; Zitha Mokomane,Chief Research Specialist for the Human and Social Development Research Program at the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa; and Rosa Inés Floriano Carrera, Coordinator for the Department of Life, Justice and Peace in Caritas, Colombia.