Family Futures

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dvancing

ocial

ntegration

and

ntergenerational

olidarity

for Development, the League of Arab States, civil society and

academicians. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the

regional AIDS response in the Arab world within the broader

development agenda, particularly MDGs, and to understand

how family is the key to reaching the goals.

The ‘Impact of Violence Against Women on the Family’

colloquium was organized in collaboration with Qatar’s

Supreme Council for Family Affairs and the United Nations. It

was attended by prestigious personalities including the United

Nations Assistant Secretary-General on Gender Violence,

the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement

of Women, the Under Secretary-General of the United

Nations, the Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social

Commission for Western Asia, the Special Rapporteur on

Violence Against Women, the Chairperson of the Human

Rights Committee, and the past Chairperson of the Committee

on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. The

colloquium also hosted experts in the field from around the

world. It was organized as a contribution to the campaign

of the United Nations Secretary-General to end violence

against women. Recommendations from the colloquium were

included in the Secretary-General’s special report on gender-

based violence, which was presented to the General Assembly

in October 2009.

The ‘Empowerment of Women in Arab Countries’ collo-

quium, organized in collaboration with the Office of the

Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of

Women at the United Nations, aimed to provide United

Nations member states with expert opinions and recommen-

dations regarding policies to empower women in the political,

economic and social fields. Twenty experts from different

parts of the world explored the empowerment of women in

multiple contexts, addressed challenges and achievements,

and provided recommendations to all stakeholders in order

to make policy responses more effective.

DIFI has also worked with United Nations agencies to learn

more about issues of population, decent work and poverty,

and held several conferences related to the International Year

of the Family. Working with the primary United Nations agen-

cies involved with population and ageing issues (the United

Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Parliamentary

Assembly and UNDESA) and Northwestern University, DIFI

held the ‘Family Support Networks and Population Ageing’

colloquium. The colloquium report was disseminated during

the Commission on Social Development and the Commission

on Population.

DIFI worked with the International Labour Organization

and the International Training Centre to hold the ‘Forum on

Decent Work and Poverty Reduction’. This provided a plat-

form for the exchange of experiences and policy lessons from

different countries, including the Arab region, and helped to

consolidate the Decent Work approach in the region’s national

development strategies and plans. The event’s proceed-

ings were disseminated during the fiftieth session of the

Commission on Social Development at the United Nations.

Several conferences have been held by DIFI for the

International Year of the Family, both as a follow-up to

the tenth anniversary and in preparation for the twentieth

anniversary. DIFI worked with UNDESA and the United

Nations Focal Point on the Family to hold the ‘Family

Policy in a Changing World: Promoting Social Protection

and Intergenerational Solidarity’ EGM. Recommendations of

the meeting were included in the United Nations Secretary-

General’s report on the follow-up to the tenth anniversary of

the International Year of the Family, which was presented to

member states.

Children participating in an animation workshop, a side event of the Family and the Arab Media conference

Image: DIFI