The 6th International Seminar of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family was the latest in a series of seminars that considered the family as a partner and protagonist of social development. The aim of the Seminar was to identify concrete, integrated strategies for the implementation of the recommendations of many recent world summits and UN conference, to further mainstream family into social development programmes and policies and to provide a platform for exchange and networking between NGO practioners/advocates, policymakers and researchers.