An international conference to mark the 30th anniversary of a milestone in placing families at the heart of global society is to be hosted by Qatar in 2024, organised by the Doha International Family Institute (DIFI).
The conference will see policymakers, non-government organisations, family experts, practitioners and academics gather in Doha to share their experiences on the central role that family holds within nations and communities, three decades after the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 1994 as the International Year of the Family.
The international conference will be held in Doha from 29 to 31 October 2024 and will address four major megatrends that have a significant impact on families – new technologies, climate change, urbanisation and international migration, and demographic change.
The conference will also advocate for worldwide support and empowerment of the family system by promoting policies and programmes that strengthen families, showcasing best practices and evidence-based research, and providing a forum for policymakers, academics, practitioners, and stakeholders to engage in in-depth discussions on family-oriented policies to effectively tackle the megatrends.
Family-centric policy development
Speaking at the briefing during the 78th UN Session on Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Issues, HE Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, said that the conference serves as a testament to Qatar’s unwavering dedication to prioritising family-centric well-being and policy development.
She said that the briefing reaffirms their joint commitment to organise a groundbreaking conference that will not only celebrate the 30-year anniversary but also strengthen families and address the global megatrends affecting them.
DIFI Executive Director Dr Sharifa Noaman Al Emadi said that since their establishment in 2004, DIFI has been working to advance knowledge on Arab families, providing research and studies and advocating for family issues, supporting evidence-based family policies at national, regional and international levels.
She said they strive to promote a familyist ideology in relation to all policies and programmes that specifically highlight the importance of taking the entire family unit into consideration when moving towards cohesive, stable societies.
HE Mubarak Ajlan Al-Kuwari, Executive Director of the Permanent Committee for Organizing Conferences at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that this collaboration with DIFI represents a significant step toward a brighter future, aligned with the social development goals outlined in Qatar National Vision 2030.
Empowering families
In 2014, the DIFI-organised International Conference on Empowering Families: Pathway to Development concluded with Doha’s call to action for governments throughout the world to empower and enable families to contribute to sustainable, social, economic and cultural development through family-focused policies and programmes, especially in areas of poverty eradication, full employment and decent work, work-family balance, and social integration and inter-generational solidarity.
Next year’s conference will explore the impact of technological developments on families, from assistive reproduction technology to telecommuting, from changing demographic trends including the age of marriage and fertility rates and humanitarian crises resulting from climate change.
The conference will also study the effects of migration on families, and how urbanisation influences family roles, responsibilities and structures.
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