Doha: Doha International Family Institute’s (DIFI) second annual conference on Family Research and Policy starts today at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC).
The two-day conference, entitled ‘The Impact of Wars and Conflicts on Arab Families’, brings together researchers and policymakers from around the world to discuss the role of research and public policies in promoting the well-being and protection of Arab families.
The conference will provide a platform for researchers and policymakers to discuss how wars and conflicts impact Arab families, while taking into account contextual factors. It will also investigate the role of policy (international, regional and national) in promoting the well-being and protection of Arab families and their members.
Through thought-provoking sessions and protection of Arab families and simulating panel discussions, the conference will strive to influence the regional and international family research and policy agenda on the Arab family. It further aims to provide avenues through which social scientists, policy makers, NGOs and CSOs can interact and enhance research and policy by highlighting new trends in Arab families.
Emphasising the crucial role of the conference in informing future policies, Noor Al Malki Al Jehani, Executive Director, DIFI said: “Families in the Arab world are under tremendous threat due to the ongoing conflicts in many parts of the region. By hosting this conference, we would like to shed light on the short-term and long-term impacts of wars and conflicts on the family unit and on men, women and children. We hope to identify the policies that are needed to respond to the new challenges.”
First day of the conference will see three Al Jazeera correspondents share their on-the-ground experiences in war and conflict zones in the Arab region, providing policymakers with unparalleled insight and tangible evidence of the human tragedies and challenges facing affected families.
Hamdi Al Bokari, Senior Producer at Al Jazeera Channel, will speak about the conflict in Yemen while Mohammad AlNajjar, Head of Social Media at AJMN, will elaborate on the ongoing war in Aleppo. Amer Lafi, a correspondent at Al Jazeera, will give a firsthand account of the refugee crisis on the Syrian – Turkish border, as well as the humanitarian crisis in Libya.
