Contact: Don Feder, 508-405-1337, dfeder@rcn.com; Carol Griesbach, 815-964-5819, media@worldcongress.org; both with World Congress of Families

WASHINGTON, May 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- The "World Congress of Families: Dialogue of Civilizations" -- our first African conference -- will take place in Abuja (Nigeria's federal capital), at the Musa Yar Adua Conference Centre, June 5-7, 2009. The theme of this historic conference is "Plan of Action on The Family in Africa -- An Update."

Larry Jacobs, World Congress of Families Managing Director commented: "We are delighted by the exciting lineup of speakers and proud to partner with the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage, local sponsor of the event. We hope this will be the first of many pro-family conferences in Africa, supported by the World Congress of Families and FACH."

Speakers at "The Dialogue of Civilizations" include Her Excellency Hajiya Hajia Turai Umar Yar'adua, First Lady of Nigeria; Mrs. Jonathan Goodluck, wife of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Her Excellency Mrs. Janet Kataha Museveni, First Lady of Uganda; His Royal Highness Abubakar Sa'ad III, Sultan of Sokoto; Nigerian Senator Osita Izunaso, the conference chairman; and Don Feder, World Congress of Families Communications Director.  Go to www.fach-ng.org/ and click on events for the program and registration information.

Also among the speakers are: Archbishop Onaiyekan, President, Christian Association of Nigeria; Most Reverend Peter Akinola, Primate of the Anglican Church in Nigeria; Mrs. Sharon Slater, President, Family Watch International; Dr. Obi Ideh, Doctors' Health Initiative; Most Rev. Dr. Valarian Okeke, Archbishop of Onitsha Archdiocese and Bishop Chairman of the Family and Human Rights Unit; Robert Nkontchu, Education for Life, Cameroon; and Christopher Carmouche, GrassTopsUSA.

Issues to be discussed at the conference include: HIV/AIDS in Africa, The African Family, The Natural Family: Bedrock of Society, A Christian View of Sexuality And The Family, A Plan To Defend Family Policies At The United Nations, Sexual & Reproductive Rights, Preserving Family Values Through Religious Education, The Family As A Microcosm of Society, Youth And Abstinence Education, Pornography And The Family, and Demographic Winter (or Declining Birthrates).

The Abuja Conference is a preparatory conference for World Congress of Families V, August 10-12, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  Theresa Okafor of The Foundation for African Cultural Heritage and a member of the organizing committee will deliver the report and recommendations from the Abuja Conference at World Congress of Families V (Amsterdam, August 10-12). 

Click here for the WCF V Program: www.worldcongress.org/WCF5/wcf5.program.htm. 

Click here to register and join us for WCF V in Amsterdam: www.nl.worldcongress.pl/. 

Press registration for members of the media/press go to: www.nl.worldcongress.pl/reg.php?&o=press

For more information on World Congress of Families, go to www.worldcongress.org. To schedule an interview with Larry Jacobs contact Don Feder at 508-405-1337,  dfeder@rcn.com, or Carol Griesbach at 815-964-5819, media@worldcongress.org.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) 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.  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois (www.profam.org).  To date, there have been four World Congresses of Families – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw, Poland (2007).  A fifth World Congress of Families will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 10-12, 2009 (www.worldcongress.nl).