AMSTERDAM, Aug. 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- World Congress of Families V opened on August 10, 2009 at 10:30 AM at the RAI Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The theme of the opening session was "Modern Families, Traditional Values."
The World Congress of Families is the premier gathering of individuals and organizations that promote the concept of the "Natural Family" from around the world.
Dr. Allan Carlson, the founder and international secretary of World Congress of Families spoke on the topic "How We Got Here: A History of The Natural Family."
According to Carlson, the term "Natural Family "evolved in large part, from Article 16 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads: "The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state."
Another high point of the morning session came when Theresa Okafor with the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage spoke of misconceptions that are having a detrimental effect on the development of African countries such as the misconception that diminished populations bring about economic prosperity and the misconception that "sexual responsibility and behavior change" have no place in the battle against the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The following individuals delivered addresses during the morning session:
- Minister Andre Rouvoet from the Netherlands; Rouvoet is the leader of the Christian Union political party and the Minister for Youth and Family,
- Annemiek van Woudenberg, an advisor and developer of Centers for Youth and Family,
- Simon Polinder with the Local Organizing Committee for World Congress of Families V,
- Katarzyna Mazela, the vice-president of the Forum of Polish Women,
- Dr. Allan Carlson, the founder and international secretary of World Congress of Families,
- Martha Gomez Serrano from Mexico who helped organize World Congress of Families II in Mexico City in 2004,
- Theresa Okafor, the CEO of Life League Nigeria and a director of the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH),
- Anna Zaborska, a member of the European Parliament and the head of the - Women Right's and Equality Commission,
- Marika Bertule from Latvia and the Manager and developer of a Crisis Pregnancy Center.
The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60 countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society. The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois (www.profam.org). To date, there have been four World Congresses of Families - Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw, Poland (2007). A fifth World Congress of Families will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 10-12, 2009 ( www.worldcongress.nl).
