Acting Premier Bob Richards yesterday signed a proclamation supporting the institution of marriage and declared tomorrow the start of International Marriage Week.

He was flanked by two couples with nearly a century of marriage between them — event organisers Allan and Mildred Hunt, who have been married for 43 years, and the Revs Harold and Marilyn Lambe of the Pentecostal Evening Light Church on Parson’s Road, who have been married for 51 years. They were also joined by Anglican Bishop Nicholas Dill.

Mr Richards read a declaration on the steps of the Cabinet building. It stated that a loving marriage “deserves our special respect because it provides irreplaceable personal happiness and creates the safest place for children to flourish and to enjoy the full emotional, moral, educational and financial benefits of both parents, and that men and women who marry and stay married in mutually supportive relationships generally live longer, experience better health, and enjoy more satisfying lives.”

Mr and Mrs Hunt are behind the weeklong series of events leading up to Valentine’s Day which are designed to “strengthen and celebrate marriage”. The week begins a “love” treasure hunt starting on the steps of City Hall tomorrow at 1.30pm. Mrs Hunt said it was designed to help couples learn to communicate in new ways.

“It’s for anyone — you can be engaged, newlyweds, or contemplating it,” said Mr Hunt.

Other events include two sessions to strengthen marriage, the Art of Marriage on February 9 and 11 at Pembroke Sunday School between 7 and 9pm, and a celebration dinner party at Grotto Bay on Valentine’s Day.

“Many divorced people’s marriages could be saved if they have the necessary tools to survive,” said Mrs Hunt. “Social scientists are proving that children who come from two-parent families do better at school, stay out of poverty, and don’t get into trouble with the law.

“If a person doesn’t finish high school and has a child before they are 21, they have a 77 per cent chance of being in poverty,” she said, quoting US statistics. “We haven’t done that kind of research in Bermuda, but I’m sure its similar.”

Mr Hunt added: “In the US, $112 billion is spent on single and unwed parents. Marriage is the unsung, anti-poverty solution.”