Contact: Larry Jacobs or Don Feder at 815-964-5819, 513-515-3685 cell, media@worldcongress.org
WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 /Christian Newswire/ -- WCF International Secretary Dr. Allan C. Carlson has announced that World Congress of Families is now accepting bids to host World Congress of Families V. (For details please download the official document, www.worldcongress.org/WCF5/wcf5.rfp.htm, "A Request For Proposals To Host The World Congress of Families V In 2009.")
Past Congresses have been held in Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw (2007). The Warsaw Congress (WCF IV) was attended by 3,900 delegates from 64 nations. WCF IV had 45 cosponsors – including some of the largest pro-family organizations in the United States, Canada and Europe.
The next Congress is expected to be held in 2009. Interest has been shown by a number of countries from around the world. Letters of intent to apply are requested by February 15th and final bids should be received by March 15, 2008.
Carlson commented: "It's a great honor and responsibility to host a World Congress of Families biennial event. A Congress brings representatives of pro-family groups from around the world – as well as thousands of activists, scholars, authors and parliamentarians – to the host country."
Proposals should include: dates for the Congress, site location (city and conference facility), themes of the Congress, local and regional speakers and topics (normally, one-third of the Congress speakers would fall in this category), a preliminary plan for media and advertising, a business plan (including a budget), a fund-raising plan and a timeline with key dates.
Preference will be given to proposals that: 1. Adopt themes that are most relevant to current and prospective family debates 2. Consciously reflect and seek to implement a natural family worldview 3. Employ a professional events manager and 4. Are fully funded by local, national and regional sources.
Proposals may be submitted by national pro-family organizations, coalitions of pro-family groups in a country, governmental entities (at the municipal or national levels), political leaders, business leaders, or a combination thereof.
The World Congress of Families International Selection Committee will review all proposals and make a recommendation to the WCF Management Committee which will make the final choice.
Carlson observed: "All of the host committees for our past Congresses have made a unique contribution to this celebration of the natural family and rallying point for the international pro-family movement. We look forward to working with the host committee for World Congress of Families V to ensure that our next Congress is a rousing success."
"A Request For Proposals To Host The World Congress of Families V in 2009" in MS Word format is available from WCF Global Coordinator Larry Jacobs at 815-964-5819, 1-800-461-3113 or larry@profam.org.
For more information on World Congress of Families, visit www.worldcongress.org. To schedule an interview with Allan Carlson, contact Larry Jacobs at the above number or e-mail address.
The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60 countries that seeks to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society. The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois (www.profam.org). To date, there have been four World Congresses of Families – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw, Poland (2007).
