Rethinking the Work-Family Reconciliation Policies in the GCC

Highlighted the need to rethink work-family reconciliation policies in the GCC within the local economic, social, cultural and demographic contexts.

The First Annual Family Policy Forum (FPF) is titled “Rethinking the Work-Family Reconciliation Policies in the GCC”. The Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), in collaboration with the Executive Bureau of the GCC Council of Ministers for Social Affairs, organized the First Annual Family Policy Forum (FPF) on 30-31 May 2016. The Family Policy Forum attempted to enhance the knowledge base of Arab Family matters, make family issues a priority for policy-makers, and encourage knowledge exchange on family matters through interdisciplinary networks which include researchers, policymakers, civil society organizations and service providers.

Seeking to enrich the knowledge base of “Work-Family Reconciliation Policies in the GCC”, using constructive dialogue and knowledge exchange among the participants, the Forum intended to achieve the following objectives:

• Rethinking the policies of reconciling work and family in light of the national GCC context.
• Exploring means to achieve Goal 5.4 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) taking into consideration the national contexts in the GCC countries (social, cultural, economic and demographic).
• Highlighting the current opportunities and challenges in family and work policies in the GCC, discussing their impact on the family and the work institution and putting forward policy alternatives that are suitable to the GCC context
• Underlining some of the national and international experiences related to the work and family reconciliation policies.
• Building partnerships among relevant policymakers, civil society organizations and researchers as a nucleus for the establishment of a network which aims to examine and develop family policies in the GCC countries.

Papers

• Amal Al Mannai
• Rana Hendy
• Saeed Al Masri
• Suhal Al Faleeg
• Abdullah Al Suwaidi
• Hind Al Muftah
• Wajiha Al Baharna