International Day of Families

Proclaimed by the United Nations (UN) on September 20, 1993, the International Day of Families highlights the importance of families and the major challenges they face around the world. Every year on May 15, the international community pays tribute to the family.

What is the International Day of Families?

Created at the initiative of the United Nations, Families Day aims to achieve a dual objective:

raise awareness of family issues,
increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic issues that are likely to affect them.

As with other days in the calendar that take on special significance because they reflect particular societal issues, the International Day of Families is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness. A wide range of content is produced, including reports, recommendations and presentations. Discussions are also often held on these days. For example, in the case of Families Day 2023, the theme of which is ” Demographic trends and families “, the UN is expected to produce a reference document on “The impact of demographic trends on families”, offer a presentation on intergenerational equity and solidarity, or provide an overview of policy recommendations in response to demographic trends.

The family, key to a child’s well-being

Mariela, open-heart surgery in Madagascar

For philosopher Will Durant: ” The family is the nucleus of civilization “. And for good reason: it’s usually within the family that children grow up. At their best, they receive security, respect and love. But as with any institution, the family can also be subject to failures. Some are intentional, as in the case of child abuse. Others are unintentional, as in the case of undernourishment in families hit by a lack of resources. The children who fall victim to these situations find themselves in a state of great vulnerability. The Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated these situations. This is particularly the case in India, where La Chaîne de l’Espoir has stepped up its support for 900 families in Jaipur, whose living conditions are already precarious. In these families, where parents were deprived of jobs due to strict confinement, there was a shortage of everything, especially food.

Parents, guarantors of a child’s health and safety

It’s common for family members to look out for each other. Parents ensure the health and safety of their children. To help them in this task, we have set up a program in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali to respond to caustic burns of the oesophagus, a pathology characterized by the narrowing and necrosis of the oesophagus followingingestion of a corrosive product, preventing the child from eating properly. The program includes a prevention and awareness-raising component to alert families to this public health problem, which is linked to domestic accidents. Another part of the program involves medical care for young victims of these accidents. Medical volunteers from La Chaîne de l’Espoir go on site to perform surgery and, of course, train local teams.

La Chaîne de l’Espoir has been carrying out surgical missions for over 25 years, in many countries (Jordan, Senegal, Lebanon…) and for the treatment of various pathologies (orthopedic, cardiac…).

Family Day: what role can Les Pavillons des Enfants play?

While cutting-edge surgical procedures and high-quality care are essential for children’s good health, moral and emotional support are key to their recovery and convalescence.

That’s why we created Les Pavillons des Enfants nearly 20 years ago. These facilities accommodate children and their families when they have to travel to another city or country for an operation.

Beneficiaries are accommodated in these homes, from the pre-operative period through to convalescence. For these low-income families, all costs are covered by La Chaîne de l’Espoir (care, accommodation, transport).

The aim is to offer children better psychological support, by allowing them to be accompanied by a family member throughout their medical treatment.

International Day of Families: bringing children closer to their families

A child surrounded by loved ones will find it easier to cope with the anguish and all the difficulties that surgery can bring. What’s more, thanks to the comfort of their family, little patients have a better chance of recovering quickly.

That’s why La Chaîne de l’Espoir does everything in its power to ensure that children can benefit from quality care as close to home as possible. To this end, it continues to build or rehabilitate medical structures and health establishments, through 2 projects currently underway:

In Iraq, the Sinjar French Medical Center
In Madagascar, with the rehabilitation of the operating theatre and intensive care unit dedicated to cardiology and cardiac surgery at the Soavinandrina Hospital in Tananarive.

Foster families: a strong link in the child’s life

Unfortunately, it is still all too often the case that children cannot be operated on in their own countries. That’s why La Chaîne de l’Espoir comes to the aid of sick children, mainly from West Africa: Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo-Brazzaville… And operates on dozens of children every year in major partner hospitals across France.

It organizes the arrival of these young patients in France, with host families. Volunteers who welcome them with open arms and provide them with a cocoon similar to their own home, with all the affection they need during this stay, which is necessary for their recovery.

These host families play a vital role in our actions. As Professor Alain Deloche explains in his book ” Leur vie, c’est ma vie “: ” These families remain our “strong link”. Since 1988, more than 3,000 children have come to France, and hundreds of families in Paris, Toulouse, Nantes and Lyon have rallied around them… What is welcoming a sick and unknown child into your home if not an act of pure generosity? “

An act of pure generosity, carried out in a spirit of kindness and mutual respect, as Clothilde, a mother of 3 from the Paris region, explains. ” We don’t know much about the children we care for. What’s important is the care provided for their pathology. It’s during our exchanges that we discover children from different cultures and religions. Some don’t speak French. Out of respect, fear or modesty, they take a long time to dare to speak. “says Clothilde. A host family for the first time in 2005, she has since welcomed 13 children into her home.

Would you like to become a host family?

So International Day of Families is also an opportunity to highlight these host families, those who don’t share the same DNA as the child they welcome, but who make the choice to welcome children from far away, whom they don’t know, to enable them to undergo surgery in the best possible conditions. Those who accompany the sick child during his stay in France, as if he were their own.

No medical knowledge is required, just time, attention and affection.

Would you like to get involved with La Chaîne de l’Espoir and become a host family? Find out how, and all the important information, on the page of our website dedicated to host families!

Would you like to become
a host family?

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