The family is the fundamental social unit and seedbed of a civil society. It is where men and women learn to live in genuine freedom and solidarity and where individuals are equipped to fulfill their social obligations. The dramatic changes occurring in multiple aspects of modern society pose unique challenges to the family. African society in general and the African family in particular are also affected by these changes.

Previous research and practitioner focus on the family has been on threats and defects rather than how families have shown resilience and strength in adapting to challenges and adversity in modern life. Family resilience is a relatively recent construct that describes how families adapt to stress and challenges and bounce back from adversity.

The Network of African Family Scholars (NAFS) supported by the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development welcomes high-quality academic papers from scholars of the Family, Philosophy, Law and other relevant disciplines, on themes related to Family Resilience (from a strengths based perspective) such as key processes that enable families to surmount crises and persistent stresses, how families demonstrate coping and mastery, the parenting role in building family resilience, education in building family resilience and related topics from an African perspective.

Concept

In August 2005, Strathmore University hosted an International Family Congress. At the close of the Congress, Voice of the Family in Africa (VOFA) was launched. This is an organization which in coalition with others of similar objectives will work towards strengthening the Family in Africa. One of the action points at the end of the congress was to develop sound scholarship from Africa through a Network of African Family Scholars (NAFS). This initiative will be coordinated by the Centre for research on work and family at the Strathmore Business School. The aim of this project is to bring together African scholars, governments and policy makers to discuss the future of the family in Africa and to illustrate the role of intellectuals in enhancing the family as the fundamental social unit and seedbed of any civil society.