DOHA: Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) and the United Nation’s Population Fund, Arab States Regional Office (UNFPA-ASRO), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate collaboration in addressing Arab family issues.
Both aim to achieve further progress in the region through collaboration and engagement of civil society in raising awareness about the importance of family and empowering women, involving men and stakeholders through advocacy and policy dialogue, and rejecting unacceptable practices such as gender-based violence and child or early marriage.
The MoU will provide opportunities for capacity-building, exchange and transfer of best practice, research and studies, Noor Al Malki Al Jehani, Executive Director, DIFI, said. It will also provide a framework for working with UNFPA on joint projects and advocacy activities to enhance the role of both entities in attaining human and sustainable development goals in the region, Gulf News reports from Manama.
Said Mohammad Abdul Ahad, Regional Director of Arab states, UNFPA, said the partnership would utilise UNFPA’s experience and DIFI’s research capacity and regional outreach to support DIFI’s flagship report on the ‘State of Arab Family’.
DIFI, a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), was founded in 2006 to support family, parental and child rights and dignity, with the mission of encouraging, supporting, and promoting implementation of the Doha Declaration and to reaffirm international commitments to strengthen the family. UNFPA-ASRO cooperates with governments in the formulation, adoption and implementation of population policies and development strategies.
It has expertise in the field of development and cooperation in reproductive health, gender-based issues and violence, Arab family, population and development, integrating a human rights-based and culturally sensitive approach.
The Peninsula
