Message from Honourable Ralph Klein
Premier of Alberta

On behalf of the Government of Alberta, I would like to welcome international leaders, researchers, legislators, service providers, and individuals who have been affected by family violence to the World Conference on Prevention of Family Violence 2005 in Banff, Alberta.

2005 marks Alberta's Centennial year. It is hard to believe it has been 100 years since Alberta joined Confederation as a province. That seems like a really long time, until you consider how far Alberta has come since 1905. The province has had more success in 100 years than what seemed conceivable a century ago.

Alberta is now a prosperous Canadian province, with an outstanding quality of life. Sadly, amongst all this success we still have children, families and communities who are scarred by family violence.

It is Alberta's vision to create a province that is violence free. By working together, we can find the best solutions to eliminate family violence and ensure children grow up in safe, secure, and nurturing families and communities. 

Message from the Minister

On behalf of Alberta Children's Services, I'm pleased to extend a warm welcome to all individuals around the world who plan to attend the World Conference on Prevention of Family Violence 2005- being hosted by the Alberta government on October 23 – 26, 2005 in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Internationally, family violence includes disturbing problems, such as the international trafficking of women and girls. This conference provides an opportunity for organizations around the world to create shared strategies that reduce family violence, and supports the continuing work of the World Health Organization, Amnesty International, United Nations World Conference on Human Rights and United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing. We are pleased to bring together international leaders, researchers, legislators, service providers and individuals who have been affected by family violence. We recognize that working together to share knowledge and promising practices is our only hope for a world free from violence.

Through our efforts we will build a solid future for our children and ensure they have the opportunity to grow up in a safe, nurturing, violence free world.

Heather Forsyth
Minister
Alberta Children's Services

Message from the Minister of Health

On behalf of the Government of Canada, I am pleased to welcome you to this groundbreaking conference on family violence. Thank you for being part of this international effort to address and preventwhat is a serious, pervasive, and too-often secret problem.

The Government of Canada, through its Family Violence Initiative, is committed to addressing this issue. Support from all levels of government for programs that reduce such violence is essential. However, effective solutions will also require cooperation and collaboration by a vast network of diverse partners, many of whom are represented at this conference. Further, long-term solutions must spring from community-based initiatives that recognize that family violence does not impact only the health and security of the direct victims, but the health of entire communities. This conference's program recognizes this reality.

Funding allocated for the Family Violence Initiative supports and complements activities across several federal departments and agencies. I also applaud the work of the World Health Organization in creating the international Violence Prevention Alliance, as well as the World Report on Violence and Health that preceded it.

I am sure that this conference will provide fertile ground for the sharing of knowledge and the developing of ideas, both invaluable tools for the prevention of family violence. I wish you all great success in your deliberations and I look forward to learning of your progress in moving from “Knowledge to Practice to Impact.”

The Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh
Minister of Health/Le ministre de la Santé

Message from the World Health Organization

Family violence is an insidious social problem with profound health consequences for victims, perpetrators and the societies in which they live. Child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, sexual violence and elder abuse are scourges of every society. As shown by the World Report on Violence and Health, these forms of family violence are, however, preventable, and when such violence does occur, improved victim services can do much to reduce the severity of consequences. The World Health Organization is committed to bringing the tools of public health to bear on better understanding and ultimately dramatically decreasing family violence.

The World Health Organization is therefore proud to be co-sponsoring the World Conference on Prevention of Family Violence 2005. The World Conference serves as a telling reminder that violence against children, women, older persons and other vulnerable populations is far too common. It recognizes that family violence is a complex issue, which can only be effectively addressed through collaborations, which reach across disciplines, sectors and borders.

I welcome delegates to this conference, and hope that your participation will equip you with more tools to fight family violence.

Message from the Pan American Health Organization

The Pan American Health Organization has been active in developing family violence prevention services and initiatives across the Americas for many years. We are proud to be co-sponsoring this important international conference which will address family violence in its many forms including, child maltreatment, intimate partner violence and elder abuse. Family violence ranks as one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity throughout the world. The scope of the problem is reflected in homicides, which are of course an expression of extreme violence, but also in less visible forms of violence such as neglect, psychological maltreatment and violence in institutions.

The World Conference will serve to foster stronger linkages across disciplines and across borders as well. This event will provide a key forum to exchange information, transfer knowledge, share lessons learned and forge new networks for collaboration.

Our hope is that the result of this World Conference will be to contribute to making questions of family violence prevention a central issue, thus reducing the risks faced by those most at risk.

Message from the Child Welfare League of Canada

We at the Child Welfare League of Canada are proud to be co-sponsoring the World Conference for Prevention of Family Violence 2005. We believe that this event will help to build a stronger international community of interest and commitment to family violence prevention. It will provide a valuable opportunity to focus prevention efforts, enhance interventions, showcase promising and best practices, report on innovative models, exchange knowledge, and generate initiatives and networks to enable delegates to better address family violence.

The theme of the World Conference “Knowledge to Practice to Impact” underscores the need to ensure that knowledge informs our practice, and that our interventions are guided by the impact they have on children, families and communities.

We welcome delegates to beautiful Banff , Alberta and hope that your visit will be both stimulating and informative.
 

Michael Udy
President, Board of Directors
Child Welfare League of Canada