Global Day of Parents
The Global Day of Parents is an annual event that is celebrated on June 1 to honour all the parents around the world for being the anchor of their families and selflessly nurturing and protecting their children. This day was declared as the Global Day of Parents by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012, with resolution A/RES/66/292. This was done to appreciate all parents for their lifelong sacrifice towards raising their children. Parents play a key role in the health, emotional wellbeing, and education of a child.
Families bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the anchors of the family and the foundation of our communities and societies, parents have the responsibility of sheltering their families from harm, caring for out-of-school children, and at the same time, continuing their work responsibilities. Without support from parents, children’s health, education, and emotional wellbeing is at risk. By introducing family - friendly workplace policies and practices, institutions and organisations will be in a better position to promote children’s safety and wellbeing, and provide systematic support to employees.
Since the 1980s, the important role of the family has increasingly come to the attention of the international community. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues its exponential growth, a technical note from UNICEF, ILO and UN Women on family-friendly policies and other good workplace practices in the context of COVID-19 shows that it is essential to support working families to minimise negative consequences for children.
We, at World Assembly of Youth (WAY), support the United Nations’ resolution noting that the families make an important contributors to the wider social protection and development of our communities. Parents have the primary responsibility for the nurturing and protection of children and that children, for the full and harmonious development of their personality, should grow up in a family environment and in an atmosphere of happiness, love, and understanding.
We, therefore, urge young people and children to realise the great job parents do, and they should also reciprocate their support and love to their parents. It is the parents who firstly mediate values, rules, and moral attitudes to the youth, and this way help those becoming valuable members of our society.