Three thousand and 690 cases of evasion of paternity were registered across the country during the last year, said this Tuesday by the National Director for Family Policy at MASFAMU, Santa Ernesto
In an interview with ANGOP, as part of the Father’s Day celebrations, the director said that, although there is a significant reduction compared to the year 2022, during which INAC registered 4 thousand and 935 cases, the situation has still worried the Angolan Executive .
Given the scenario, he highlighted, the Executive has developed some actions aligned with the National Development Program 2023-2027 and the National Program for Social Action and Family Valorization, through the Jango de Valores Projects and “Minha Família, Minha Inspiração”.
He said that the aforementioned programs aim to involve all the living forces of society in the search for strategies to draw attention to the role of the father in the family, calling for responsible fatherhood.
He mentioned that the “My Family, My Inspiration” Program, through the Preparation of Young Couples component, consists of holding lectures to prepare young people for marriage, for a harmonious family life.
Based on these projects, said Santa Ernesto, the actions are aimed at raising awareness among families through monthly lectures on various topics, including parental responsibility.
In this area, from 2021 to January 2024, 41 thousand and 811 people were raised awareness, including 17 thousand and 404 men, on topics such as escape from fatherhood, domestic violence, sexual abuse against minors, the importance of the father in the family and others issues from the perspective of changing behaviors and adopting positive practices leading to responsible fatherhood.
Church
For the secretary of the Council of Christian Churches (CICA) in Angola, Deolinda Dorca Teca, the 19th of March is not a date that should only be for celebration, but rather a moment of reflection around family responsibility on the part of the father, taking for everyone to think about their role within society.
“It is necessary to review the meaning of the father in the home, in the family and in society”, he highlighted. This exercise, according to the reverend, would help in combating the escape from fatherhood, as each person has duties and rights towards their children, who go through the provision of food, love and family closeness.
Regarding the role of social organizations (Churches), he stated that it is important to continue working on programs linked to masculinity, being a man, being a head of a family, advantages that they bring to the emotional, material or financial world.
For this reason, he drew attention to State bodies working together to strengthen the training of the man, the father that one wants to have in Angola.
Regarding cases of parents abandoning centers for the elderly, the reverend highlighted that this action is not an African habit, a fact that leads us to rethink what is happening, since the miscellany of culture has caused profound rupture in the essential customs of families.
In turn, sociologist Mateus Francisco considered the date loaded with a lot of symbolism, a fact that should be used to reflect on the role of the father in society and his responsibilities.
“We need to rethink the role of the father, such an important figure for society, who in many cases is associated with less good practices, such as avoiding fatherhood and sexual rape”, he said.
Mateus Francisco said that awareness-raising work is necessary, in order to form a new generation that values the father figure more.
About the date
In the figure of the Father, the role described through actions such as care, education and feeding of children falls upon him, with care being the act aimed at maintaining life, from conception, childhood and adolescence.
This cycle also reserves the status of educator, above all, based on examples that guide children towards future life, being interconnected with the guarantee of family subsistence.
Although “these” are the paternal responsibilities, these activities still represent a major challenge at national level, given the increase in the number of people escaping from fatherhood with the refusal of fathers to assume their responsibilities in relation to their children.
In this question, several socio-family factors are highlighted, from the lack of social conditions (employment), family breakdown and other similar situations.
This scenario does not favor the maintenance of the paternal position as a supporting role, making them distant in the interaction of the children’s educational tasks, as well as in the time to participate in the children’s growth and development stages.
Therefore, several social organizations call for the importance of society’s participation in the process of raising awareness and moralizing parents to assume their responsibilities within their families, in order to build a better nation.
The celebration of Father’s Day varies from country to country, Angola celebrates the date on March 19, as do Spain, Italy, Andorra, Bolivia, Honduras and Liechtenstein.
Regarding its origin, there are two stories, one of which points out that the date is attributed to the American Sonora Louise, daughter of a military man who decided to create Father’s Day motivated by the admiration she felt for her father, William Jackson Smart.
The celebration became known in the United States and, in 1972, American President Richard Nixon made Father’s Day official.
However, a son’s homage to his father in Babylon may also have given rise to Father’s Day.
This happened in 2000 BC, when a young boy named Elmesu wrote a message on a clay tablet, wishing his father health, happiness and many years of life.