‘Family Values’ and Valuing Families

Ghana was the host of the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family, Sovereignty and Values at Parliament House in Accra from June 3-6.

Its theme was ‘Advancing the African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values’.

The event brought together lawmakers, policy experts, academics, civil society leaders and development partners from around 20 African countries who deliberated on key issues affecting African societies, parliaments’ role in shaping responsive policies, and continental cooperation and policy dialogue. 

The Right Hon. Alban S. K. Bagbin, Speaker of Ghana’s parliament, was the ‘host speaker’ and the President, H. E. John Dramani Mahama, was announced as ‘special guest’.

However, he did not make a personal appearance at the event. The president was represented by Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah. 

At the close of the conference, delegates were requested to endorse adoption of the African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values and the Conference Communique.

The charter is the first attempt to impose a continent-wide legal framework rooted in what critics regard as a moralistic rather than rights-based viewpoint. (The draft Charter can be viewed at https://www.christiancouncilinternational.org/news/in-depth/2025/summary-of-the-draft-african-charter-on-family-sovereignty-and-values/).

The Charter claims that sexual and reproductive health and rights are an existential threat to the African family, and states that policies based on these rights promote abortion on demand. 

Abstentions and African family values

Both South Africa and Mozambique formally abstained from adopting the Charter.

The former country’s representative stated that the charter’s definition of marriage contradicts the South African Constitution and the country’s legal obligations.

The abstentions reveal the diversity of legal and constitutional frameworks across Africa.

While many African nations support stronger protection of what they regard as traditional family values, others operate under constitutional systems that recognise broader interpretations of personal rights and marriage.

The debate underscores the challenge of creating continent-wide agreements on socially sensitive issues where domestic laws differ significantly.

Generally, African family values are said to be deeply rooted in collectivism, intergenerational respect, and kinship. African societies emphasise the extended family and the community, rather than focusing on the individual, while prioritising collective harmony, ancestral heritage, and mutual support.

Surprisingly, the conference did not spend time seeking to define African family values. Delegates failed to examine what many families in Ghana – and in Africa more widely – might regard as key family values: those that fundamentally affect their well-being and prosperity. 

Ghanaian families’ priorities

Afrobarometer surveys indicate that Ghanaians’ top national—and family—priorities include unemployment, infrastructure and road improvement, better and more accessible health care, and the management of the economy. Unemployment is consistently cited as the single most critical problem facing families.

For young Ghanaians, finding a job is the number one priority, and many cite lack of opportunities as their primary reason for considering emigration.

Regarding healthcare access, majority of Ghanaians worry about being able to obtain or afford medical care for themselves and their families if sick.

Many households report going without essential medicines.

Another key issue is corruption, which a majority of

Ghanaians believe has increased. Police, tax officials, and Members of Parliament are the public institutions most widely perceived as corrupt.

Finally, families’ standard of living is a constant concern.

Many Ghanaian families endure ‘lived poverty’ due to the high cost of living and shortages of basic necessities.

These concerns suggest that many Ghanaians would prefer parliamentarians’ greater and sustained focus on the country’s economic challenges, including youth unemployment, rather than spending time, money and effort debating moralistic concerns over ‘family values’. 

Valuing families

Rather than valuing families and supporting them, the African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values would undermine them in two key ways.

First, it states that African countries should refuse to ratify any international agreements that reference sexual and reproductive health and rights, while also calling for the elimination of comprehensive sexuality education and any form of abortion service provision.

These provisions would undermine women’s rights by threatening gender equality through the promotion of a strictly patriarchal definition of the family, as well as opposing the sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda, including access to abortion.

Children’s rights would be undermined by powerfully prioritising parental and community authority. 

The writer is Emeritus Professor of Politics, London Metropolitan University, UK