Family Futures

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Advancing social integration

and intergenerational solidarity

Doha International Family Institute

dvancing

ocial

ntegration

and

ntergenerational

olidarity

he Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) is

a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education,

Science and Community Development. It was estab-

lished in 2006 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser,

Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation, following a confer-

ence celebrating the tenth anniversary of the International

Year of the Family.

DIFI’s mission is to:

• contribute to the global knowledge base on issues

facing the Arab family through the development and

dissemination of high-quality research

• encourage knowledge exchange on issues related to

the family across an international and interdisciplinary

network of researchers, policymakers and service

providers

• make family issues a priority for policymakers through

advocacy and outreach at the national, regional and

international levels

• build an international coalition of regional experts.

From its establishment, DIFI has been committed to the aims

of the International Year of the Family with the objectives

of strengthening families and furthering family policies. It

has helped to advance social integration and intergenera-

tional solidarity by working with organizations throughout

the world.

DIFI has partnered with many United Nations agencies,

including the United Nations Department of Economic and

Social Affairs (UNDESA), UNAIDS and the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to hold expert group meetings

(EGMs) on issues relevant to the Middle East North Africa

(MENA) region. Some of these meetings spearheaded topics

that are sensitive in the region, including AIDS, violence

against women and the empowerment of women in Arab

countries. The AIDS meeting was titled ‘Symposium on

Family, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and AIDS’

and was organized in collaboration with UNICEF and

UNAIDS. It brought together for the first time senior experts

from governments in the MENA region, senior experts from

the United Nations system, the Intergovernmental Authority

Launch of

The Family and the MDGs: Using Family Capital to Achieve the 8 Millennium Development Goals

at UN Headquarters in New York

Image: DIFI