Doha: Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) is celebrating the 20th International Year of the Family (IYF) by holding a conference next month where experts, academics, researchers, civil society organisations and policymakers will discuss key aspects of social policy in an attempt to change policies and empower the family.
Under the patronage of
H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development, the conference will be held on April 16-17 at Qatar National Convention Centre under the theme ‘Empowering Families, A Pathway to Development’.
Key themes include confronting family poverty and social exclusion; ensuring work-life balance; and social integration and intergenerational solidarity. More than 80 speakers from across the world will share views and experiences regarding the centrality of the family and its role in society. In preparation for the forum, introductory meetings were organised by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs at the UN headquarters, and meetings with civil society organisations in many parts of the world.
DIFI organised expert group meetings in Doha in 2011 and 2013, and at European Parliament in 2011.
The first day of the conference will focus on family matters. Article 16 (3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and entitled to protection by society and the state. It will feature panel sessions on family poverty, family and work balance, family and intergenerational ties and families in special circumstances.
Speakers include the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs H E Dr Abdullah Saleh Mubarak Al Khulaifi; Vincent Meriton, Minister for Community Development, Social Affairs and Sports, Seychelles; Tuve Martin Hugo Skenberg von Beetzen, Swedish MP from Christian Democrat Party; Dr Bahira Sherif Trask, Professor, Associate Chair, the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Delaware; and Dr Deisi Noeli Weber Kusztra, Executive Director, National Union of the Associations of Protection of Maternity and Childhood, World Family Organisation.
The second day will focus on family and the post-2015 development agenda. Sessions will highlight issues of importance to effective family policy design and gender equality. The role of men in the family will also be considered in relation to designing family policies. The day will attempt to evaluate to what extent these matters have been addressed in family policies around the world.
Speakers include Amina J Mohammed, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning; Philip Hawang, Professor of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Nassir Abdulaziz Al Nasser, UN High Representative of the Alliance of Civilisations; Prof Dr Rolph van der Hoeven, Human Resources and Local Development, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Taj Hamad, Secretary-General, World Association of Non-Governmental Organisations.
The Peninsula
