DOHA: Georgetown University in Qatar’s (GU-Q) Centre for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) hosted the Monthly Dialogue Series with Guest Speaker Noor Al Malki Al Jehani (pictured), Executive Director, Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), a member of Qatar Foundation, who spoke on ‘Strengthening the Family in Qatar: Challenges and Required Actions’.
The series aims to present community members with a forum for dialogue with scholars on their latest academic endeavours and research agendas. Each month, a scholar discusses his or her latest work and research interests.
Al Malki participated in the drafting of national strategies and plans, including Qatar’s first national development strategy 2011-16. She was the chair of the drafting committee for the strategy of family cohesion and women’s empowerment. She also participated in the review and drafting of legislations pertaining to social and women’s issues. She served as secretary-general of Supreme Council for Family Affairs from 2009-2011, and prior to that was director of the Women’s Department of the council.
CIRS Director, Prof. Mehran Kamrava, highlighted GU-Q-DIFI collaboration on research. “We were fortunate to collaborate with Al Malki and DIFI team as part of our research on the Gulf family, and this partnership has proved to be an asset to the project,” Prof. Kamrava said.
Al Malki focused on institutional framework and challenges facing implantation of the national strategy with regard to family policy. Discussing family policies and the importance of proper implementation to achieve a comprehensive approach to create healthy families, she stressed that functioning families are the key to social and economic development of any state.
She called for the adoption of policies which support primary functions of the family unit such as family formation and resolution, partner relationships, child care and economic support and investment in long-term planning to achieve the objectives of the national vision.
“Achieving Qatar’s vision of cohesive families requires coordination between the government, civil society, the private sector and families,” she said. The Peninsula
