Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Dr Dale Bisnauth has emphasised the importance of family life in inculcating opinions and attitudes that would fashion national togetherness.

According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) release, Bisnauth was addressing a Family Life Forum at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel on Tuesday under the theme 'Family Life in the Twenty-first century.'

He posited that if Guyanese were to learn to live together in peace, as a cohesive and productive nation, it was crucial for families to help in developing, from very early, lifestyles fashioned by opinions and attitudes that will transform people, GINA said.

The forum aimed to inform Family Life programmes and make inputs into relevant policy formulation and the legislative processes. Contributions to the forum were also made by representatives of the Christian and Islamic communities.

The workshop, a collaborative effort between the ministry and the National Commission on the Family, which was established in 1999, was the first of its kind to be held by the respective groups.

"These days the family takes many forms...including the nuclear fragmented and substitute family. We must learn to work with all of these models in a non-judgmental way," GINA quoted Bisnauth as saying. He observed that the family was a cell in society and regardless of its size or shape, its functions had a direct impact on society.

The minister also urged parents to make sacrifices for their children and to teach them likewise, GINA said.

Chairperson of the commission, Barbara Deodat, briefly informed workshop participants about the group's work, noting that its main focus involved the development of a collaborative and holistic approach to matters of the family and the initiation of supportive and strengthening legislation, GINA stated.

The primary objective of the commission is "empowering families," and the body supports the establishment of links with organisations that offer family life programmes.

Deodat revealed that the body has formulated a family code geared

towards promoting the fundamental human rights of the family, and in order to concretise this position, it forwarded a proposal, which was put up by Chancellor Desiree Bernard (then chief justice), for the institution of a "family court".

Commission member, Dr Brian O'Toole, in dealing with the topic of 'Family Life and the Conventions' underscored the need for the enactment of laws to specifically strengthen the position of the wife and child in the home.

GINA quoted guest speaker at the forum, University of Guyana lecturer, Neburn Scott, as stating that the family "ought to constitute a place where persons feel fit to live and live with, beyond family boundaries. Research shows that a person is more likely to be beaten, or even killed by a family member than by a stranger." Scott also highlighted the many flaws of the family today which, he insisted, should not exist in our society.