The Observatory for the Family Friendly Municipalities (OAFR), an initiative of the Portuguese Large Families Association, celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2018 and it was a pioneer in monitoring Municipalities family friendly policies.
From 2008 to the present the Observatory has been monitoring, awarding and disseminating the best practices regarding family policies. The result is an increasing number of municipalities’ applications and better family related measures that have a real impact in everyday lives. From 78 (2008) to 271 applications (2018) the contagion effect from neighbor municipalities was responsible for this amazing growth. More and more cities are supporting maternity and paternity and families with special needs, providing basic services, education, housing and transports services and other initiatives.
In 2019, the Observatory will expand its work by creating an enquiry to the municipality employees, in order to assess it as an employer, that is, if the municipality adopts measures that facilitate family and work balance of its workers, thus becoming a role model of the same practices for local companies.
The OAFR has a multidisciplinary team from fields such as sociology, psychology, political science, economy and others that contribute positively to evaluate and build public policies related to family.
The tenth anniversary was celebrated with a special award for those municipalities that won a green flag (symbol of a family friendly municipality) for ten years straight.
