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“The family is
the natural and fundamental group unit of
society and is entitled to protection by
society and the State.”
Article 16.3, Universal Declaration
of Human Rights
United Nations Division for Social Policy
and Development is devoting this 10th anniversary
year of the International Day of Families
to a reaffirmation of commitments made and
the identification of further actions, including
encouraging the incorporation of effective
family policies and programmes into national
development strategies; and encouraging
regional institutes to promote and undertake
research and development of policies related
to family issues. This will culminate in
a plenary session of the UN general Assembly
on the topic of families. For more information,
see the official
website.
Forced Migration and the Family
Families often become dispersed when fleeing
conflict, disasters, or persecution. In
these situations, separated children or
unaccompanied minors can be particularly
vulnerable. While no explicit right to
family unity exists in international law,
it is recognized that the family is entitled
to “respect, protection, assistance,
and support.” In the forced migration
context, examples of this support include
attempts by humanitarian agencies to (a)
reconnect individual members through tracing
activities, (b) reunify families through
resettlement efforts, and (c) keep family
units intact during asylum and immigration
application processes. For more information,
see:
Jastram, Kate, “Family
Unity: The New Geography of Family Life”
(2003)
For more information on issues relating
to family reunification and family unity,
browse key resources and selected background
documents in FMO under each of the following
categories:
Research Guide
Documents
Selected full-text documents
(for more, search in the Digital
Library)
- Alternative Information Center,
Guidelines for Palestinians who wish to
reside in the West Bank, Gaza Strip or
Jerusalem: everything you wanted to know
but haven't yet been told about problems
of residency and family reunification
(1993)
- Atkinson, Winnie and Mads Terman Olsen,
Working with children and adolescents
of refugee families in Denmark (1997)
- Donnelly, Nancy D.,
Family issues arising after resettlement
(1989)
- International Institute of Humanitarian
Law,
Conclusions on family reunification.
Report of a meeting of experts 4-6 December
1986, Florence (includes 1980 San
Remo Body of Principles for the Procedures
on the reunification of families) (1986)
- Refugee Policy Group et al,
Enhancing the self-sufficiency of refugee
families. A manual for service providers
in the Northeast (1989)
- Reichelt, Sissel and Nora Sveaass,
Meaningful conversations with refugee
families and the systems surrounding them
(1991)
Web resources
Selected web-based information sources
(for more, search the FMO website)
Relevant international instruments
Country of origin information
- Global IDP Database (Global IDP Project) - individual country reports often include a sub-section on family unity in displacement situations
Operational materials
The European Commission and the right
to family reunification
For information on the
recent debate in the European Commission
regarding a right to family reunification,
see:
Relevant Organizations
Contact details for organizations involved
in family-related issues (for more, search
in the Organizations
Directory)
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15 May 2004 - Tenth Anniversary of International Day of Families