International Day of Families – May 15, 2020 |18 May 2020
Mr Madeleine
Impact of COVID-19 crisis on families – UPF-Seychelles’ perspective
May 15 is the UN International Day of Families and the Universal peace Federation of Seychelles (UPF-Seychelles) looks at the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on families.
Introduction:
The COVID-19 pandemic is placing enormous pressure and stress on families, due to the ‘shelter in place’ policies especially to ‘stay at home’ in many countries coupled with the closing of schools, the economic recession with rapidly rising unemployment, not to mention infections and deaths within families. Parents, spouses, children, grandparents are challenged on all fronts. Evidence suggests that cases of domestic violence are on the rise, even as community crimes are declining. There are also reports of wider substance abuse and these have an adverse impact of which the coronavirus crisis places on families.
The Universal Peace Federation of Seychelles (UPF-Seychelles) – hereafter referred to as ‘the Association’ – calls on ‘UNITY’ within our families so that our families can remain strong and resilient in order to surpass the calamities and pandemic like the COVID-19. The UPF-Seychelles extends our sympathy towards the families who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, especially those who have lost loved ones. We pray that the children whose parents are affected by the coronavirus are being well taken care of, especially by responsible guardians in order to reduce the impact of child abuse.
The theme for this year is: ‘Families in Development: Copenhagen & Beijing +25’, and since UPF-Seychelles places a lot of emphasis on family development, we want to bestow our solidarity toward the families of Seychelles in prayer; that we continue to adhere to the advisories of the department of health in line with that of the World Health Organisation (WHO), so that we can overcome the outgoing coronavirus pandemic.
At this point of time, UPF-Seychelles is also thinking of the families who are finding it difficult to cope with the ‘stay at home’ advisory in place, especially those who are finding it challenging to make ends meet. UPF-International places a lot of importance on ‘peace-building’, hence UPF-Seychelles is calling for peace within this difficult time, within the Seychellois families. We are craving for the protection of all children within the families and the secured continuation of their educational programmes. It is worth noting that early childhood services are a powerful and effective tool for building a world of peace, opportunities and prosperity.
UPF-Seychelles, in staying abreast of the latest developments, takes into account the rise in unemployment and the hardship in businesses being faced by our locals which has impacted the lives of our families. We implore our government to continue to extend a helping hand to our local families in order that they can stand strong and overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this arduous time of the pandemic, we need to reflect on what is being done or can be done to address the rise in domestic abuse, substance abuse, and even despair within families.
Nevertheless, some families have seen benefits from sheltering in place together. Families who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to bond as much as would be ideal, are now able to spend quality time together and learn to better appreciate each other.
UPF-Seychelles believes that in post COVID-19, in order to strengthen families and family values, we need to enhance and place emphasis on community-based actions (one of the features of UPF-Seychelles). Better, more inclusive social policies need to be enacted to build economic resilience and social cohesion.The Ministry of Family Affairs (Seychelles) also needs to place more emphasis on the importance of human connection and policies to strengthen and support families and children from early childhood to adolescence.We also recognise that family, children and social institutions must be supported in order to achieve stability and solidarity of the families.
Conclusion:
Families – both traditional and non-traditional – are the foundation of our society. Some of the most formative years of our lives are spent growing up with our families, so we ought to celebrate the International Day of Families. Every year we celebrate the importance of families, people, societies and cultures around the world. UPF-Seychelles anticipates and recognises that family structures will have to undergo many changes post COVID-19, due to social, economic and demographic factors.
UPF-Seychelles takes this defying opportunity to wish each and every family in Seychelles, a Happy International Day of Families. UPF-Seychelles can be reached on the following email address: upf.seychelles@gmail.com
Contributed by:
Jacob Terence Madeleine
Writer, Treasurer – UPF-Seychelles
Date: 15th May 2020
Notes:
The vision of UPF-Seychelles is to sensitise the general public in building a national goal of peace in which every Seychellois can live in freedom, harmony, cooperation and prosperity.
