DOHA: The Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) is organising an international seminar next month on the impact of changing population dynamics on the Arab family.
The seminar to be held on December 2 and 3 will also consider the policy implications of this impact.
The event will bring together population experts, policy makers and researchers involved in the study of the Arab family.
It will address five main topics related to Arab families: Marriage and family formation; Trends and patterns in fertility and family size; Population migration and the family; Adolescents and the family and inter-generational and gender issues affecting family cohesion.
The first day of the seminar will focus on policy dialogue and research papers. The policy dialogue will consider the impact of population dynamics on the Arab family and the policy implications.
The research seminar will focus on presenting original research papers on the Arab family related to the five main topics.
DIFI said yesterday that it had invited scientists and researchers to submit online proposals and there has been an overwhelming response locally, regionally and internationally.
Noor Al Malki Al Jehani, DIFI’s Executive Director said: “We want to be recognised as a global knowledge leader on issues facing the Arab family through research, policy, and outreach. By organising the population dynamics seminar and providing scientific evidence-based research that sheds light on the changes impacting the Arab family, we are on our way to meeting our main goal to assist the Arab family in fulfilling its role and contributing to the overall growth of society.”
Speaking at the event, along with Al Jehani, is a line-up of high profile scientists and scholars including Mohamed Abdel Ahad, UNFPA Regional Director for Arab States; Dr Tarik Youssef, Chief Executive Officer of Silatech; Professor Abla Sibai, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health; Jamal Al Bah, President of the Arab Family Organisation in Sharjah; Professor Youssef Courbage, Director of Demographic Studies in Paris; Professor Hoda Rashad, Director of the Social Research Center at the American University in Cairo; Professor Carla Makhlouf, Director at the Center for Research on Population from the American University in Beriut, among other prominent figures.
DIFI will produce a research policy note arising from the dialogue, which could form part of the ongoing discussions towards next year, 20-year follow up to the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development held in 1984.
Around 150 delegates are expected at the seminar. The research papers at the seminar will be edited and published in a book titled ‘The Impact of Population Dynamics on the Arab Family.’
The Peninsula
