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Doha Conference for the Family
Perhaps
the most important conference in support of the family this year
is the Doha International Conference for the Family, to be held
November 29 – 30, 2004 in Doha, Qatar. The conference is, in
fact, the culmination of a series of regional conferences,
cross-cultural dialogues, and local meetings that have been
taking place this year in celebration of the 10th anniversary of
the first International Year of the Family.
The
Doha Conference is held under the patronage of Her Highness
Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Misnad, Consort of His Highness the
Emir of Qatar and President of the Supreme Council for Family
Affairs State of Qatar. The
government of Qatar appointed the World
Family Policy Center, based in Utah, USA, to
organize the series of meetings and dialogues leading to the
final Doha Conference.
Three
regional meetings have met so far: the World
Congress of Families III in Mexico City, Mexico,
in March; International
Family Day in Stockholm, Sweden, in May; the European
Family Dialogue in Geneva, Switzerland, in
August. The last regional meeting will be the Pacific
and Asian Family Dialogue in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, October 11 – 13. The Intercultural Dialogues will be
held in Manila, the Philippines, October 6 – 8; and
Strasbourg, France, October 28 – 30. The aim is to (1) collect
the best scholarship on the current state of marriage and family
life and (2) make recommendations for family policy and academic
research.
Throughout
history, successful civilizations have been built on stable,
caring families in which children are nurtured and protected by
a mother and father united in marriage, and instilled with moral
values. Economic prosperity and social strength are built on a
foundation of healthy, resilient families. But in so many
countries today the family is disintegrating. The price on
society is high: increased illiteracy, poverty, disease, drug
use, crime, and social injustice.
What
are the causes of family breakup? And more importantly, what are
the solutions? The Doha Conference and the preceding regional
and local meetings bring together governments, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), faith-based organizations, and members of
civil society to highlight and collect their family-related
efforts.
These
are only some of the topics that will be discussed:
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The
Family in the Third Millennium
The Family and Development
The Family and Globalization
Toward an International Policy to Protect the Family
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Religious
and Juristic Bases of the Third Millennium Family
The Complementary of Motherhood and Fatherhood
The Extended Family and the Transmission of Values
-
The
Family and Education
Educating the Elderly between Literacy and the Digital
Revolution
The Basic International Law and the Issue of Educating
Children
Educating Special Needs Persons
-
The
Family and the Culture of Dialogue
The Role of the Media and Its Reflections on the Family
Government Policy and Responsibilities toward the Family
The
Conference will conclude by adopting the Doha Declaration which
will emphasize the importance of restating the family and will
call upon governments to be committed to promote the role of
family and to protect it as a fundamental unit of which society
is made.
The Supreme Council for Family Affairs, in cooperation with
pro-family NGOs, will compile and publish the most prominent
events and academic findings of the Conference.
This
conference should send a strong message to the nations of the
world that family values are important for the health and even
survival of societies. The information disseminated via these
discussions and conference papers will aid delegates and NGOs
who will participate in Beijing +10 early next year.
For
registration information, see the official
Web site.
*
Ælfwine
Mischler is an editor at IslamOnline.net. She represented the
International Islamic Committee for Woman and Child at a UN
conference in June 2001.
Note:
The hyperlinks in this article were last accessed Sept. 25, 2004.
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