Welcome Message

It is our great pleasure to invite you to join the Asian Family Summit to be held on 27 -29 December in Hong Kong jointly organised by the Consortiumof Institutes on Family in the Asian Region, the Social Welfare Department and the Family Council of the HKSAR, the Connecting Hearts, the Faculty of Social Sciences of The University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service.

The Asian Family Summit (AFS) is one of the programmes organised by the Consortium of Institutes on Family in the Asian Region (CIFA) to echo the call of the United Nations to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family (IYF+30) 2024. The AFS, along with other programmes of the “Jockey Club Professional Development Initiatives on Family Services”, are sponsored by the Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project which is initiated and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

The Summit aims to provide an opportunity for public, private, academic/professional, NGO sectors and civil society to come together to examine the challenges faced by families in these megatrends, review the existing policies, service provision and practice and contribute towards the formulation of evidence-based policies and innovative measures of coping with these changes. It also aims to raise awareness among Asian countries on the well-being of families and the need for collaborative efforts to achieve the goal of Converging Professional Wisdom for Advancing Family Well-Being – A Key to Sustainable Development.

The Organising Committee has put up a full and exciting programme containing keynote speeches, plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, and the Final Round Adjudication of the Best Practices Sharing in Asia – Family Well-Being Project 2024, to be followed by post-summit agency visits and workshops. There will also be hospitality activities for participants to meet each other in a more relaxed atmosphere, establish acquaintances for future linkage and collaboration, and enjoy the bustling life of Hong Kong. Moreover, the Family Well-Being Expo will be staged to provide an opportunity for integration of families with multi-generations, ethnic origins and abilities / disabilities to participate in interactive activities and acquire information and knowledge on the four megatrends, with the view to heighten community awareness while offering families a day of fun.

We are grateful to the honorary advisors for their support and guidance, members of the Organising Committee and the various committees as well as the Secretariat for heading up the enormous preparatory work to make the Summit a reality. With everyone’s unfailing efforts and thoughtful input, we expect the Summit to be a substantial, relevant and fruitful one! You are cordially invited to come and exchange your expertise, experiences and ideas. With a shared mission and in partnership, we can work together to formulate effective policies and innovative measures to cope with different family challenges, enhance family functioning and contribute to the world’s efforts in actualising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Hong Kong welcomes you with open arms! Please mark your diary for the Asian Family Summit and join us for this exciting event. We are sure, with your active participation and support, the Asian Family Summit will be a successful one for all who share the common dream of advancing family well-being and are proud to be a part of the endeavour.