Opening of the Doha International Conference on the Family

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation For Education, Science and Community Development (QF) graced the inauguration of the ‘Doha International Conference on the Family’ held at the Qatar National Convention Center under the theme 'Empowering Families: A Pathway to Development'.

The opening ceremony was attended by Their Excellencies the ministers, senior officials, distinguished guests of policymakers, representatives of non-governmental organisations, academics, experts and family affairs researchers.

In her address before the conference, Her Highness Sheikha Moza said, "We believe that humanity at the moment greatly needs comprehensive global, national policies and programs that are geared towards family issues as an integrated social system without fragmenting solutions. We behold that the issues of men, women, youth and the child is a single issue: which is the issue of family with its own array of challenges and problems.”

Her Highness added, "Given that each community has its own social and cultural characteristics, just as all the countries of the world have their own challenges in the area of family issues, the implementation of appropriate policies and strategies should have its own characteristics and mechanisms, taking into account the unique peculiarities in values between countries.” Her Highness also engaged with the panel during the plenary session ‘Families Matter.’

The conference 'Empowering Families: A Pathway to Development' focuses on various issues that deal with tackling concerns such as poverty, social exclusion, family and work balance, social integration and solidarity between generations, which highlight the important matters associated with the formulation of family policies and their effective application, including the role of national machineries, civil society and the issues of gender equality and the role of men in the family.