Doha Briefing at the United Nations in New York

The Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, organized a briefing for diplomats, UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes as well as NGOs on the upcoming Doha conference topic “Empowering families: challenges and opportunities’’ on the 13th of February 2014 in the UN headquarters during the 52nd session of the Commission on Social Development .

The program of the briefing included H.E. Ms. Alya Al Thani, Ambassador, Permanent representative of the State of Qatar, Ms. Noor Al Malki, and Executive Director of DIFI Renata Kaczmarska, Focal Point on the Family, UNDESA, Ahmed Al Hindawi, UN Secretary General Envoy on Youth, Mihaela Robila, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, Queens College, Ignacio Socias, Director, Communication and International Relations, IFFD

H.E. Ms. Alya Al Thani, Ambassador, Permanent representative of the State of Qatar, gave an opening statement stressing on the importance of organizing such briefings in order to inform and to better understand the challenges facing the family as well all the perspectives. She commended DIFI’s Efforts aimed at a better understanding of family issues as well as the role played by UN Division of Economic and Social Affairs in this regard. The Ambassador emphasized the importance attached by the state of Qatar to the family as a basic unit of the society and noted Qatar’s efforts to promote the family since the organization of the Doha International Conference on the Family in 2004.

Ms. Noor Al Malki, Executive Director of DIFI, introduced the Institute, stressing the fact that one of DIFI’s objectives is to achieve the objectives of the International Year of the Family, recalling all the challenges facing the family in the new millennium and the need for a comprehensive family approach in policies at all levels in order to improve living standards and to broaden opportunities for families worldwide.

She made a presentation on the upcoming international conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the International Year of the Family that will be held in Doha on the 16th and 17th of April 2014 under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation. She talked about the importance of the theme of the conference “Empowering families: a pathway to the development”, highlighted the main objectives as well as the expected outcome of this important event.

This briefing was a good opportunity for the panelists and the participants to exchange views about the way to empower families and on the need to include families in the post 2015 development agenda.