Expert Group Meeting

About EGM

Introduction

 In addition, the discussions also reviewed the topics of the effects of violence and cyberbullying on the well-being of children and young people, digital addiction and its repercussions on marital and parenting relationships, social technology and its impact on family life variables and caring for the elderly in the 21st century.
The meeting concluded with the importance of expanding families use of information technology, developing family capabilities, developing guiding mechanisms to protect families, especially children and adolescents, from violence and cyberbullying, as well as investing in assistive technology to provide a better experience for the care of the elderly and inclusion of people with disabilities, creating and developing evidence-based parenting programs, examining the relationship between digital addiction and the family environment, and developing theory-informed and data-backed solutions. In this regard, Executive Director of DIFI Dr. Sherifa Noman Al Emadi confirmed that the Institute plays a crucial role in advocating family policies within the international development agenda in cooperation with the UN in various aspects, taking into account the leading role played by the Institute in organizing the annual conferences prior to the International Year of the Family, and the accompanying preparatory events. In turn, Professor of Information and Computing Technology at Hamad Bin Khalifa University Dr. Raian Ali stressed the need to understand the nature of family relationships and their relationship to modern technology.
It is necessary to understand the interrelationship between technology use and the family environment, he stressed, in order to be able to design intervention and counseling programs on technology use and overuse. He added that digital education programs and tools must be contextual and culturally sensitive, and there is a need to research beyond general concepts of digital addiction and digital well-being, delves into details, and studies the nuances and different features of digital media, as well as family structure and values. (QNA)

Concept note EGM

Background note EGM

1. Recognize the family as the agent of sustainable development and prioritize the social development through effective family-oriented policies at the national levels.
2. Expand families’ access to information technology and develop family capabilities in this regard.
3. Develop parenting education programmes to protect families, especially children and adolescents, from violence and cyberbullying, and develop related manuals
4. Consider the spatial and organizational capabilities of the house and its traditional functions to accommodate the experience of working and teaching during crises.
5. Invest in assistive technologies to provide better care for older persons and inclusion for persons with disabilities and all vulnerable members of the family.
6. Create and develop evidence-based parenting programs, and invest in the inter- relation between digital addiction and family environment and developing theory- informed and evidence-based solutions
7. Raise awareness of the digital addiction dangers and how parents can deal with it.
8. Develop monitoring and following-up mechanisms with regard to the family, fertility data and population dynamics.
9. Establish an observatory of family policies by the Doha International Family Institute in cooperation with the League of Arab States.
10. Continue cooperation between the Doha International Family Institute and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and other partners in the preparations for the thirtieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family, including regional research in cooperation with the League of Arab States.
11. Conduct studies on the impact of Covid-19 on fertility-behavioral trends.
12. Encourage sharing of good practices and research on IYF+30 mega trends.
13. Invest in impact assessment research to evaluate family policies.
14. Evolve digital literacy and digital parenting programs to respond to technology advances and new usage patterns
15. With reference to the civil society declaration, the below recommendations were noted:
    15.1. Address the intergenerational digital gap among all family members in order to design and implement policies and programs to strengthen intergenerational solidarity, recognize interdependence, ensure equal educational access, build mentorship schemes among generations and promote positive interactions and intra-family relations.
    15.2. Promote the use of new technologies in flexible work arrangements such as teleworking, through the provision of public and private services, infrastructure and social protection policies to enable families fulfill their care responsibilities.
    15.3. Ensure accessible technology to all family members, considering it as an investment to develop educational programmes, new services, new jobs, new forms of cooperation while working towards a universal access to proper underlying infrastructure, devices, skills and protection.
    15.4. Encourage open communication between parents and children, as well as resilience and awareness about online risks while assisting parents to be informed of platforms and media choices their children interact with.

Recommendations EGM

Schedule

Research – Papers and Presentation

Biographical Notes of Participants

Images

Videos