Larry Jacobs, Managing Director of the World Congress of Families, commented: "We're delighted by the way national representation is shaping up at World Congress of Families V. Delegates will be coming from 11 African states, and from as far away as Venezuela, South Africa, Moldova, Pakistan and Australia."
Jacobs continued: "In terms of nations represented, this will truly be a World Congress of Families. And we expect that other countries will add their voices to a rising chorus in the next few weeks."
Pro-family leaders, activists, scholars and officials from over 50 countries on five continents will gather in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from 10-12 August to discuss matters pertaining to families – topics ranging from abortion, marriage, pornography to exploitation of women and children are on the discussion.
The organisers said more countries are still expected to sign up for what it considers as truly the "first worldwide congress of families."
Jacobs noted: "The broad national representation at WCF V demonstrates that the issues we'll discuss – including abortion, marriage, declining birth rates, child-care vs. home care, education (including home-schooling), Internet pornography, the exploitation of women and children, threats to the family from radicals and multi-national organizations, and the role of faith in sustaining families – are universal, touching families in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. A challenge to the family somewhere is a challenge to families everywhere."
Earlier, anti-family group in the Netherlands - Autonomous Feminist Action (AFA) has been mobilising against the congress. It is calling upon its sympathisers and supporters to stop the congress which it claims is against the "right of persons (man)."
An article posted at IndyMedia Netherlands website by the Autonome Feministische Actie (AFA) has called World Congress of Families as a group of "fundamentalistic Christians" who "will plead for going back to the Christian traditions of traditional relationship between man and woman; whom it claims is against the right of persons, how they want to form and live their lives."
WCF is also characterized as "anti-feminist, anti-choice, homophobic and against divorce."
"They see the Netherlands as a good place now to spread their ideas, which is not acceptable," AFA stated.
"Clearly, the social left is terrified of the Congress bringing a pro-family message to what it considers its turf," Jacobs responded. And has called upon more pro-family leaders to add their voices.
The World Congress of Families (WCF) was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society in Rockford, Illinois, United Stated. The same year the first Congress was held in the Prague in 1997, it was followed by Geneva 1999, Mexico City 2004 and Warsaw 2007.
WCF said it is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60 countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society (as found in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948).
On the web www.worldcongress.nl