Officials at the conference at the Qatar National Convention Center yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot/ The Peninsula
By Amna Pervaiz Rao
The Peninsula
DOHA: H E Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Thani, Special Envoy of the Arab League Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, yesterday stressed upon the need of performing collective responsibility to preserve families that are under threat of impacts of war.
“Today the destruction of the social and economic infrastructure due to conflict is tearing families apart and destroying communities. It is our collective responsibility to do all we can to preserve families that are under threat by not only offering aid and support, but by exploring all possible ways we can protect them against the devastating impact of war,” said Sheikha Hessa.
She said this while taking part on the first day of the Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) conference on Family Research and Policy, held under the theme ‘The Impact of Wars and Conflicts on Arab Families’. Delegates were welcomed to the conference by Noor Al Malki Al Jehani, Executive Director of DIFI.
Sheikh Hessa said: “Our aim was to help the refugees for the social development and harmony. Unity of family to achieve under the umbrella of United Nations. Different ways of protecting family, family hunger and their basic necessities. As a result, we keep on trying to protect humanitarian rights, who are facing stress disorders, fears and those who think they don’t have future”. Regional and international policymakers gathered at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) to examine the role of public policies in promoting and protecting the well-being of Arab families in ongoing conflicts.
Sheikha Hessa; Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Issam Fares Institute, American University Beirut; Luay Shabana, Regional Director of Arab States, UNFPA; and Nahla Haidar, Member of CEDAW Committee, took part in the first plenary session, moderated by Amal Mohammed Al Malki, Founding Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU). Titled ‘Impacts of Wars and Conflicts on Families’, panellists explored how conflict compromises families.
