Organized in cooperation with the Directorate General of Family and Community Services, the Department on EU and Foreign Relations, and the Directorate General of the Family Institute, the Forum was held under the theme “Safeguarding and Strengthening the Family in the Face of Global Challenges.”

The Forum brought together representatives responsible for family affairs — including 23 ministers — from 26 countries, along with national and international experts, and representatives from public institutions and civil society organizations, with the shared goal of strengthening the institution of marriage and the family and safeguarding future generations and a strong demographic structure.

The program began with an opening speech by our Minister and continued with the Ministerial Session on “Mainstreaming Family-Oriented Policies: National and International Efforts.”

As part of the Forum, a Ministerial Declaration on protecting and strengthening the family in a globalized world was opened for signature. The declaration emphasized the need for holistic policies; the protection of the family formed by the marital bond between a man and a woman; the value of motherhood, fatherhood and having children; the need to raise fertility rates above the replacement level; and affirming a stance against harmful global ideologies that have taken on a coercive character.

With the participation of 21 distinguished local and international experts from countries such as Türkiye, the United States, Hungary, Sudan, Russia, Qatar, Italy, and Côte d'Ivoire, four panel sessions and three open-floor discussions addressed threats to the family and population. The panels explored global trends threatening the family institution — such as the push to erase biological distinctions — the impact of digitalization on family life, the role of media, and demographic challenges faced by countries.

Throughout the Forum, the Director General of the Family Institute accompanied our Minister in bilateral meetings with the ministers responsible for family affairs from Hungary, Malaysia, the Republic of the Congo, Montenegro, and Kyrgyzstan.

At the conclusion of the Forum — during which our Minister conducted intensive “family diplomacy” — H.E. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan officially declared the period from 2026 to 2035 as “the Decade of Family and Population.”