DOHA: Qatar is taking a major step to further empower its women and is to soon announce setting up of a first youth centre devoted exclusively to women. The proposed centre will be opened in Al Khor as part of plans to launch a slew of such women-only facilities all over the country.
Girls and young women will be encouraged to sharpen their talents, creativity and skills in fields like finer arts, culture, music as well as sports at the proposed centres. The centres are to be managed entirely by Qatari women.
This was announced by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage here yesterday. A senior official of the ministry who was a guest speaker at the Central Municipal Council (CMC) outlined the government’s plans to take its women empowerment initiative to the grassroots level.
Significantly, the office-bearers of the proposed women-only youth centres will be chosen through the ballot. A law is on the anvil to regulate all youth centres, including those for men as well, in the country.
Abdul Razzaq Abdullah Al Kuwari told the CMC that presently places like Doha and Al Dhakhira have women’s forums. A study will be conducted to assess their performance and convert them into youth centres for women.
“Our aim is to encourage our women to take active part in youth activities and bring out their hidden talents,” said Al Kuwari who heads the youth center affairs department at the culture ministry.
These forums were set up on an experimental basis and the idea was to assess their performance over time and pave the way for converting them into youth centres for women, he added.
H E Dr Hamad bin Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari, the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, also attended the CMC meet and said he was visiting the public representative body to get some key inputs about the ministry’s plans to set up youth centres for women as also for men.
The Peninsula
