On October 18th to the 20th we had a historic moment in London, and we are not talking about the brexit deliberations taking place in the British Parliament. It was just a few metres from this magnificent building in Westminster, at the QEII Centre, where IFFD held its events.
More than a thousand smiles filled the atmosphere of the 20th World Congress of Family Enrichment, held on October 19th and 20th. They came from the 5 continents, from places as far away as Chile, Canada, Tanzania, Australia, Japan, Russia, … and so on up to 55 countries. Some of these participants had been a part of a training of moderators celebrated the day before the beginning of the congress, on October 18th, in English, French and Spanish. That day we also celebrated the World Meeting of Leaders, bringing together about 250 leaders and promoters of Family Enrichment.
Parallel to the world Family Enrichment congress, 250 young people from 35 countries met on October 19th at the First World Congress of Personal Project. They came from Costa Rica, Paraguay, United States, South Korea, Nigeria, Switzerland, France, Spain… Some coordinators or promoters of IFFD’s Personal Project program, others interested in learning about this program in order to be able to implement it in their countries. All shared enthusiasm and filled the room with energy.
World Meeting of Leaders
The World Meeting of Leaders (October 18th) brought together nearly 250 IFFD collaborators in 50 countries for a day dedicated to planning new work dynamics and strengthening collaboration among Family Enrichment centers around the world. The event included a conference on leadership by Dr. Enrique Rojas, professor of psychiatry and medical psychology and Director of the Spanish Institute for Research in Psychiatry.
20th World Congress of Family Enrichment
The 20th World Congress of Family Enrichment had exceptional speakers. The Congress was opened by Sir Henry Burns, Professor of global public health at the University of Strathclyde (Scotland) and a member of the Council of Economic Advisers in Scotland. His paper on Family & Wellness provided very relevant data.
This was followed by a round table dedicated to Family-Friendly Policies in the International Arena in which three women of great relevance in this field shared their proposals: Donna Butts, Executive Director of Generations United; Kinga Joó, member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Vice President of the Hungarian Association of Large Families (NOE) and member of the board of the National Cooperation Fund (NEA); and Sharifa Noaman Al-Emadi, Executive Director of the Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) and expert in Wellness, Recovery and Treatment of behavioural disorders – Drug Addiction. This roundtable was moderated by Ignacio Socias, Director of IFFD Family Advocacy.
The afternoon lecture was given by Thomas Lickona, PhD in Psychology and educator known as “the father of modern character education”. In his conference Raising kind kids he delved into the importance of transmitting values to our children.
Saturday was closed with a round table dedicated to the activity of IFFD: Family Enrichment around the world: my family is also your family. Louise Montes (USA), Florencia Donoso (Chile), Wil van Erp (The Netherlands), Olivier Yao (Ivory Coast) and Maria Li (China) took part in the table. Moderated by Viviana Gutierrez (Mexico), they detailed their experiences as Family Enrichment moderators.
Art & Larraine Bennett opened on Sunday with a vibrant lecture titled The temperament God gave your kids, the title of one of their latest publications. Larraine Bennett is editor and director of communications for the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) in the United States.
Tom Harrison, Director of Education at the Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues and researcher in these fields at the University of Birmingham, offered parents the keys to seeing their children Flourishing online, far from the dangers of the network.
Shaunti Feldhahn, a best-selling author and social researcher in the field of interpersonal relationships, unveiled the Secrets of Happy Marriages in a fun last conference.
The congress had the honour of having Renata Kaczmarska, head of the Family Programme of the Division for Social Policy and Development at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, at the closing ceremony. Ms. Kaczmarska highlighted the key role that families play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDOs), which the United Nations aims to achieve by 2030. Following his presentation, IFFD President, Mario Armella, presented the Declaration of the 20th World Congress of Family Enrichment and closed the event.
First World Congress of Personal Project
The First World Congress of Personal Project, which took place entirely on Saturday 19th October, shared speakers with the XX Congress of Family Enrichment. Art & Larraine Bennett opened the congress for young people with their paper The Temperament God Gave You, again the title of one of his latest publications.
It was followed by a round table discussion entitled: Personal Project Around the World, in which Dominic Roche-Saunders (United Kingdom), Mary Canale (USA), Nkem Ikeh (Nigeria), Fran Andreu & Alejandra Vidal-Quadras (Spain) and Ryan & Sherry Panganiban (Philippines), moderated by Leticia Rodríguez (IFFD’s Family Enrichment Director), shared practical experiences in promoting and organizing Personal Project courses in their respective countries.
All the way from Australia came Andrew Mullins with an inspiring and demanding title “Is happiness just luck?”
Once again Shaunti Feldhahn put the finishing touches by sharing with the young people the Secrets of happy couples. IFFD President, Mario Armella, closed the congress in a festive atmosphere, which was followed by a reception in which the young people shared impressions and began to plan the next edition, which they proposed to be in 2021.
