By Sen. Hon. Maxine Seymour – As Shadow Minister for Social Services, Information and Broadcasting, I proudly lend my support to the observance of National Family Week, taking place from July 19 to 26 under the theme: “Uplifting and Strengthening Family Ties.” This week-long initiative is being hosted by the Department of Gender and Family Affairs in collaboration with The Bahamas Christian Council, and it could not come at a more critical moment.
I commend newly appointed Director of Gender and Family Affairs, Sharmie Farrington, for her steady leadership and commitment to the heart of our nation—the family. I also recognise the contribution of former Director Dr. Jacinta Higgs, under whose visionary tenure the inaugural Family Week was born. Their efforts deserve more than polite applause; they demand national recognition and collective support.
Let me speak plainly: the breakdown of the family is at the heart of our most pressing national crises—crime, poverty, violence, underachievement, and generational despair. We can continue to chase down symptoms with band-aid policies, or we can have the courage to address the root.
We need a bold, coordinated strategy to restore the family. If we are serious about national development, we must be serious about the family.
If we fix the family, we fix the future.
This is why I say with conviction: strengthening families is not a soft issue—it is a strategic one. It must be treated not as the backdrop to national development, but as the foundation of it. No political ideology, economic agenda, or administrative reform can succeed if our homes are broken, our children are lost, and our values are eroded.
Let me also say this: while government must lead, it cannot do this work alone. Restoring the Bahamian family is a shared responsibility. It takes grandparents and godparents. It takes aunties and neighbours. It takes mentors, pastors, teachers, and employers. It takes all of us. When we were at our strongest as a people, we did not raise children in isolation. We raised them in community—with discipline, dignity, and deep intergenerational bonds.
The Ministry has announced church services on July 19 and 20, and a Family Fun Day on July 26 at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium.
These are not just events. They are opportunities—opportunities to shift the national conversation. Opportunities to build consensus around what must come next.
So let us treat Family Week not as a moment, but as a movement. Let us push for policies that make it easier to raise children with dignity: safer communities, affordable and extended childcare, strong schools, and social support systems that work.
Let us prioritise family in our national budget the way we prioritise trade or tourism. Let us call on the Church and the private sector to step up. Never forget that when we strengthen the home, we strengthen the classroom, the economy, the community, and ultimately, the country. When we build strong families, we build a Bahamas for all Bahamians.
