Browse > Home / Catholic World News / World Congress of Families Event Shows African Support for Family Values

World Congress of Families Event Shows African Support for Family Values

June 10, 2009

Washington DC (MetroCatholic) – The World Congress of Families “Dialogue of Civilizations” — held in Abuja, Nigeria, June 4-7 – was an unqualified success with more than 300 in attendance from Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The conference was organized by the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage.

Speakers at the first WCF event in Africa decried attempts of international agencies and Western aid-givers to force abortion, contraception, smaller families and homosexual “rights” on Africa.

Speakers included Nigerian Senator Osita Izunaso; Theresa Okafor, Foundation for African Cultural Heritage; the Most Reverend Valerian Okeke, Archbishop of Onitsha Archdiocese; Mr. Nana Yaw Osei-Darkwa, Focus on the Family International, Ghana; Prof. Mark Nwagwu, a cell-biologist at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria; Professor D.O.S. Noibi, Executive Secretary of the Muslim Ummah of South Western Nigeria; Henk Jochemsen of the Dutch development group PRISMA; and Chief Albert Ngwana, National Chairman, Cardinal Democratic Party of Cameroon. There was also a good will message delivered by a representative of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The World Congress of Families was represented by its communications director, Don Feder, who also spoke on “Demographic Winter.” The following WCF Partners also spoke at the Conference: Christopher Carmouche (GrassTopsUSA), Sharon Slater (Family Watch International) and George Wirnkar (Human Life International).

Topics included: Pornography and the Family, Sexual and Reproductive Health, A Review of the Plan of Action on the Family in Africa, A Christian View on Sexuality and Family, Population Decline of the Developed World  – A Lesson for Africa, A Plan to Defend the Family at the United Nations, The Role of Scholars in Influencing Policies Affecting the Family, and The Family Unit and Global Peace.

Feder noted: “Theresa Okafor, Sen. Izunaso and others of the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage did an exceptional job of putting this conference together. I was impressed by the diversity of participants – which included elected officials, academics, medical doctors and religious leaders – who are united in support of the natural family.”

Feder also commented: “Several speakers referred to efforts to legalize abortion and homosexuality, and promote condom distribution as attempts to impose ‘Western values’ on Africa. I reminded them that these are the values of Western elites, and that authentic Western values – based on Judeo-Christian morality – are the very opposite of those promoted by the UN, European Union, etc.”

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).

Posted by George Vogt · Filed Under Catholic World News 

Comments

Got something to say?





Home | About | Archives | Advertising | Contact | Privacy Policy

MetroCatholic, Inc · 5604 Belton Ln. · Suite 400 · McKinney, TX 75070
Ph. (972) 400-2423 · Fax (888) 248-7696

The sites and respective links above offer additional information on the Catholic faith. Please note that DFW Catholic is not officially associated with any of these sites and is unable to effectively monitor all information contained therein. Please use your own judgement when visiting these or any websites. If you find information that is objectionable, contact us.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish an article without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "MetroCatholic". Any Internet re-publishing of original MetroCatholic articles MUST additionally include a live link to http://www.dfwcatholic.org. Republishing of articles on DFWCatholic.org that have come from other news sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources. MetroCatholic may at times publish content that is taken from the internet and thus considered to be in the public domain. Anyone contrary to the publication of said content need only to contact the editorial office which will immediately proceed to remove the content.