UN This Week Feb 19-22
The UN Pact of the Future
The Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) delivered a statement at an informal consultation meeting on the UN Pact of the Future and flagged that the 20-page draft lacks any reference to the family.
The purpose of the Pact is for countries to commit to rebuilding the international system to better respond to the needs of future generations. And yet, how could that be achieved with a text that does not even recognize the role of the family for individual and social development?
The zero/initial draft of the resolution was published in January 2024 and upon negotiations, is expected to reach a final version and be endorsed by UN member states leading up to and during the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024.
The Permanent Missions of Germany and Namibia to the UN held a virtual consultation meeting where NGOs and other stakeholder groups shared thoughts on the zero draft. Several groups asked for more progressive language, including sexual and reproductive health. Yet, C-Fam used the occasion to speak on behalf of pro-life and pro-family civil society and reiterate the need to include family-friendly language. Below you can find the statement delivered by Stefano Gennarini, Vice President for the Center of Legal Studies, C-Fam:
“The family is defined in binding human rights instruments as the natural and fundamental group unit of society, entitled to protection by society and the state. If this is still binding international law, why is there not a single mention of the family in the zero draft of the pact for the future? This is an inexcusable oversight.
There is no future for humanity without the family.
There is no future for our planet without the family.
The Pact for the Future must recognize the family’s role in sustainable development in all its dimensions, social, economic, and environmental. And it must include protection of the family as a cross-cutting issue.
The protection of the family is essential to peace and security. Parents’ prior right to direct the education of their children must be acknowledged in the digital context. The benefits of technology must be experienced at the level of the family. States must provide a legal and policy environment that promotes family formation, stability, and social respect and support.
We ask you, co-facilitators, to urge negotiators to strive for consensus without veering into controversial social policies like abortion and LGBT issues, including language concerning sexual and reproductive health and intersectionality. These issues can only derail consensus.
Finally, we don’t think the future of humanity rests in the hands of obscure and unaccountable global governance mechanisms, coalitions, or partnerships. No. the future of humanity rests with international cooperation between vibrant and autonomous sovereign states in full respect of each country’s tradition of self-government and the right to self-determination, in line with the UN Charter.
We oppose selective participation by civil society that will favor participation by well-funded groups that represent powerful governments and private foundations. If anything, we should favor participation by organizations that represent the grassroots and have real constituents.”
UN Holy See Event on AI
The Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the UN held an event on AI and its role in building or perhaps obstructing a pathway to global peace and integral human development.
Quoting Pope Francis, Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia said that technology needs to “serve humanity rather than to dominate or exploit it” and, within the context of technological determinism, he cautioned against the ways in which technology could lead to dehumanization and social fragmentation.
Father Philip Larrey, Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, addressed the question of whether AI could at some point develop intentionality and a form of consciousness, thus experiencing inputs.
In line with the Aristotelian and Thomist worldview, Father Larrey clarified the position of the Catholic Church on the issue, namely that a requirement for consciousness is the presence of a soul. Still, Father Larrey said that machines are creating the illusion that they are able to empathize and understand meanings, when in reality they only simulate them through complex mathematical functions.
A relevant question worth thinking about would be whether digital machines will at some point deceive people into believing they are more than just simple machines.
The Permanent Representative of Kiribati to the UN spoke about the loss of humanity, showcased both within the context of AI and other world phenomena, as beings caused, among others, by the breakdown of the family:
"The world is broken…because families are broken…Science is good, but make sure scientists are good, make sure that they believe in God. Scientists must believe that great things happen before we all exist…if we lose sight of that, [there is] no respect, no responsibility. The family gives us respect, the responsibility, but it is all broken.”
Some audience members asked about the danger of using AI for social control purposes as well as the lack of transparency in building AI systems at the local and international levels.
Other News
The WHO released a Medical Abortion training program aimed at assisting healthcare providers with the necessary knowledge to provide medical abortion based on WHO guidelines, as well as to support “successful, stigma-free” abortion care. They want to make it available to as many people as possible, hoping to also reach medical students and policymakers.
