A/HRC/28/40 structured around the assumed existence of a “male breadwinner/female caregiver” model. Among the possible pathways to address those challenges, she suggested ensuring income and basic social security, including through cash transfer programmes; developing and effectively implementing evidence-based policies; improving the nexus between policymakers and researchers; and including a stand-alone goal on the family in the post2015 development agenda with measurable, family-focused targets. C. Interventions by Council members, observer States and other observers 17. All participants emphasized the importance of the family. A number of delegations stressed the importance of families as key means of ensuring welfare and stability, promoting traditional values in society and protecting human rights. Others recognized the need to focus discussions on the protection of individuals’ rights within the family, observing that human rights abuses might be experienced in the family by more vulnerable family members such as women, children and the elderly. They also acknowledged the importance of recognizing the diversity of families, which could include same-sex unions, single parents, and adoptive or foster parents. 18. Many delegations emphasized the fact that the family should be protected as the fundamental and natural unit of society, and referenced several international and regional human rights instruments in that regard. They recalled that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explicitly and unambiguously obliged all States to provide protection and support for the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society. Several also referred to article 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which provided that the family was the natural unit and basis of society and obliged States to take care of and protect the physical and moral health of the family. 19. Some delegations noted that States had a duty to assist the family unit as the custodian of morals and traditional values recognized by the community, and called on stakeholders, including United Nations mechanisms, NGOs and national human rights institutions, to put the family at the core of their agendas. They perceived the family as an instrumental social unit that contributed to social cohesion, development and human rights, as well as to the preservation of identity, culture and traditional values. They highlighted evidence-based research demonstrating that well-protected families helped improve respect for the rights of women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities, and played a role in eradicating violence against women, reducing child labour and exploitation, and lowering dropout rates from primary education. Several speakers raised the possible role that families could play in promoting sustainable development and eradicating poverty, and called for such an influential social institution not to be ignored in the post-2015 development agenda. 20. Several delegations regretted that, 20 years after the International Year of the Family, some countries were reluctant to recognize the value of the family unit and accept their respective legal obligations. The point was made that different challenges had cast a negative shadow on the status of the family in society, increased its vulnerability to disintegration and decreased its resilience. The family as a leading societal institution should never be perceived as a force which aimed to oppose the interests, rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals. 21. Several delegations drew attention to situations in which homes had been demolished, land confiscated and families broken apart. They highlighted the role of terrorist groups in undermining the rights of families and individuals, including by depriving children of the care of family members and placing huge financial burdens on 6