The main objective is to protect the institution of marriage to reduce the proportion of Qatari women remaining unmarried permanently

 

Initiatives are underway, as part of  the Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016, to strengthen the cohesion of Qatari families, HE the Minister of Development Planning and Statistics Dr Saleh Mohamed Salem al-Nabit said yesterday.

The main objective is to protect the institution of marriage, through guidance, counselling and other measures, to reduce the proportion of Qatari women remaining unmarried permanently, he explained.

The Minister was delivering the opening address at the High Level Policy Dialogue and International Research Seminar on the Impact of Population Dynamics on the Arab Family, organised by the Doha International Family Institute (DIFI).

“Two prominent trends are threatening the cohesion of Qatari families,” al-Nabit said.

“These are the sharply rising proportion of Qatari women who never marry and the steadily increasing number of divorces. Ensuring the continuity of cohesive families and large households is crucial to the national vision,” he explained.

To strengthen Qatar’s long-term social care and protection outlook, the  National Development Strategy  (NDS) has proposed initiatives to provide support systems for families with special circumstances, such as those with disabilities and juvenile delinquents; improve support for working families, particularly for women; and reduce family violence by establishing a protection and support system for victims.   

“To ensure long-term financial security for Qatari families and reduce economic and social vulnerability, the knowledge and skills of all citizens are being deepened to adapt to Qatar’s transformation into a diversified knowledge-based economy,” the Minister said. 

The NDS proposes massive investments in quality education and training of boys and girls - quality being critical for ensuring outcomes that address current and future labour market needs.

“These include measures to ensure universal access to high-quality education - our target is to achieve a net enrolment of 95% throughout the K-12 education system by 2016,”  al-Nabit asserted.

Beyond basic education, there will be greater alignment between higher education and needs of a knowledge economy. The NDS is providing for greater opportunities for women in the workplace, with more diverse and socially acceptable pathways, and expanding the professional, managerial and entrepreneurial opportunities.

The Minister pointed out that Qatar’s  rapid economic and population growth had created  strains between the old and new in almost every aspect of life. 

Modern work patterns and pressures of competitiveness sometimes clash with traditional relationships based on trust and personal ties, and create strains for family life. The greater freedoms and wider choices that accompany economic and social progress pose a challenge to deep-rooted social values highly cherished by society. 

“Yet it is possible to combine modern life with values and culture,” observed al-Nabit, while maintaining that Qatar aspired to advance and develop the “social dimensions of society by nurturing its citizens to deal flexibly with the requirements of the age they live in”.

“Qatar National Vision 2030 sets a goal to preserve strong cohesive families that care for their members and maintain moral and religious values and humanitarian ideals.  Women are assumed to play a significant role in all spheres of family life, as well as through participating in economic and political decision-making,” he added.