Antonio Monserrat, former Secretary General of IFFD, and Ignacio Socías, Director General of The Family Watch, have been invited by the United Nations Programme on the Family and the United Nations Programme on Youth, in the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs to participate in the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding across Generations”. The event is being held in cooperation with Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development in Doha, Qatar in March, 8th-9th 2011.
The Expert Group is convened in the observance of the celebration of the International Year of Youth 2010-2011 and as part of the preparations for the Twentieth Anniversary of the International Year of the Family 2014.
The recent Report of the Secretary-General of UN on the ‘Follow-up to the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family and beyond’ states that “the importance of the family in social development deserves to be placed high on the agenda of the Commission for Social Development, especially as it relates to the achievement of the three pillars of the Copenhagen Conference: reduction of poverty, full employment and decent work and social integration”. Looking ahead to the work that should be done in the next years, it also proposes “to that end the following major themes […] to guide the preparations for the observance of the twentieth anniversary:
- Confronting family poverty and social exclusion;
- Ensuring work-family balance;
- Advancing social integration and inter-generational solidarity within families and the communities” .

Antonio Monserrat, High Court Judge and Member of The Spanish General Council for the Judiciary, was formerly the first Secretary General of IFFD.

In his speech, Mr. Monserrat will deal with “Existing Frameworks for Dialogue and Mutual Understanding across Generations”, and will concentrate on three of the proposed questions: role of the family in promoting dialogue and understanding impact of parenting on youth development and role of educational institutions in promoting dialogue and mutual understanding, with special incidence on the relationships among parents and adolescents.
Mr. Socias will deliver his intervention around the topic “Trends that Affect Parents and Children in Our Present World”, and will speak about some of the changes that have affected relationships between parents and children remarkably during last decades – a prolonged financial dependence of adult children on their parents, a dramatic rise in the rate of divorce and remarriage and a steady increase in women’s labor force participation and control over assets and wealth.
The main objective of the Meeting is to provide member States with expert opinion and concrete policy recommendations on issues related to youth.
Experts dealing with various aspects of social development are invited to participate in their personal capacities from a broad geographical distribution. To promote the participation of young people, the meeting will also include youth representatives.

Daniel Arasa, author of the book.

‘Rafael Pich, pasión por la familia. La Orientación Familiar, un sueño hecho realidad’ (Rafael Pich and His Passion for the Family: Family Development, a Dream Come True) is a book written by journalist Daniel Arasa that recounts the great efforts of Rafael Pich-Aguilera in the field of family enrichment. His work was recognized by the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in 2008, when he was awarded an honorary degree.

Rafael Pich-Aguilera was awarded an honorary degree by the UIC.

The second of two children and the father of sixteen children, Pich-Aguilera dedicated his professional career to promoting family values and teaching the FERT’s pioneering family enrichment courses. He would become after one of the promoters of IFFD.
All this is explained in the book recently published by journalist Daniel Arasa, president of the Group of Catalan Family Organizations.
The book was presented at the Garbí bookshop in Barcelona by Javier Vidal-Quadras, Secretary General of the IFFD.

 Vídeos (YouTube Channel).