- In 2016, IFFD trained more than 27,000 people. In the last five years more than 120,000 fathers and mothers have received in-depth training to improve their parenting skills. If these figures don’t seem spectacular, keep in mind that participation in our courses requires a high level of commitment. The time dedicated to training varies from 25 hours in our marriage programs to 40 hours in parenting programs.
- High satisfaction with the training received in our courses. In March and April 2017, IFFD in collaboration with a master’s degree study group on social responsibility and sustainability from the Complutense University of Madrid surveyed participants in our courses in Spain and in Colombia. With similar results in both countries, the perception that IFFD’s training has contributed to improved relationships between married couples is close to 100%, with 43.8% of those who evaluated our courses giving a mark of 4 out of 5, and 42.5% reporting 5 out of 5. Furthermore, 59.7% indicated that the course had helped them face situations which otherwise would have ended in conflict or divorce.
- IFFD is coordinating four technical committees to update training materials in four languages: English, Spanish, French and German. A Russian technical committee will be set up shortly. The work teams are made up of experts, IFFD moderators and parents from 18 countries.
- The teams prepare case studies and technical notes that address cross-sectional issues of parenting: knowledge of the children according to their age, willingness, authority, emotional education, family life, etc., as well as other issues concerning married life: communication, sexuality, work-family balance, marriage alliance.
- The network of IFFD volunteers numbers 7,150, of which 1,800 are session moderators. A good number of fathers and mothers that participate in the courses are so enthused with the project that they decide to participate on a volunteer basis and eventually become general session moderators, course coordinators, team leaders, etc. Each volunteer has a yearly average of 70 hours dedicated to training and session coordinating and moderating.
- The network of volunteers covers 66 countries over 5 continents. Every year we incorporate between 1 to 3 new countries into the network. In 2017 important advances were made Tunisia and Greece. Thanks in large part to the participation of young married couples in the promotion and coordination of the courses our activity has grown in many countries.
- In 2017 IFFD began a new project, ‘Families without Barriers’, which seeks to overcome social barriers through accompaniment and support among families from diverse social environments while sharing every-day experiences in the education of their children. The pilot project has been launched in Barcelona with the participation of a local parish and Mother Theresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity. In the coming years the project will be working in more countries including Argentina and Colombia.
- IFFD has organised 19 international conferences about family. The latest, took place in Mexico City in October 2015 and gathered 1,800 participants, some of whom were executives in Family Enrichment centers, education professionals, academics of diverse areas and political leaders. Renata Kazmarska, coordinator of the UN Focal Point on the Family, participated in the conference and gave a lecture. The next international conference to be organised by IFFD will take place in London in October 2019.
- IFFD courses have been recognised by the UN Economic and Social Council as a best practice which contributes to family wellbeing. In addition to the governments that IFFD advises on family policies, IFFD has also offered aid in the area of parental training to the governments of Ecuador and Kenya.
- IFFD’s activities have a great impact on society. A study of the Master in Social Responsibility and Sustainability of the Complutense Universityof Madrid (already mentioned) evaluated IFFD’s programs according to the SROI (Social Return on Investment) index at 22 points, which means that for each euro invested in activities, a social benefit of € 22 in value is generated. This result has been the highest of all others evaluated thus far by the Master with this methodology.
- Active participation in 147 international conferences and meetings of experts in 48 countries, which encompasses nearly the entirety of events of this kind (2011-2017).