Alice Armstrong

Parting the Long Grass: Revealing and Reconceptualising the African Family

In 1991 the United Nations proclaimed 1994 to be the International Year of the Family (IYF) and further called upon member states to discuss various strategies for implementing the IYF objectives. The most important objectives identified for special attention include the stimulation of local, national and international actions as part of a sustained long-term effort to increase awareness of family issues among governments and the private sector. This was to be done by highlighting the functions of families, the importance of these functions and the problems faced by families in the performance of their roles in the community. Although the UN had in the past made similar proclamations aimed at drawing the attention of the world community to the specific circumstances of certain groups of people, we