Manama: The socio-economic impact of wars on families and gender dimensions during conflicts came under the spotlight at an international conference held in the Qatari capital Doha.
The Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) conference on Family Research and Policy was held under the theme ‘The Impact of Wars and Conflicts on Arab Families’ and brought together regional and international policymakers to examine the role of public policies in promoting and protecting the well-being of Arab families in ongoing conflicts.
Noor Al Malki Al Jehani, DIFI Executive Director, announced the second edition of the Osra Research Grant to fund research on the impacts of conflict on family formation and breakdown, parent-child relationships, and the policies related to these topics.
Established by DIFI in collaboration with the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), the Osra Research Grant offers researchers from Qatar and other Arab countries up to $50,000 a year to conduct research on the impact of wars on the family structure.
“The short and long term implications of conflict affect the unity of society and the entire family unit,” Al Jehani said as she highlighted the impacts of war. “It is crucial for us to differentiate between these implications in order to be able to ascertain the appropriate mechanisms and measures to address them.”
Shaikha Hessa Bint Khalifa Al Thani, Special Envoy of the Arab League Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs said that the destruction of the social and economic infrastructure due to conflict was 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,” she said.
Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Essam Fares Institute, American University Beirut, called for policies to address the detrimental impact of conflict on the family unit.
“The major problem we face in terms of the negative impact of conflict on families is the lack of policies to address these challenges,” he said in the panel session on the ‘Impacts of Wars and Conflicts on Families’. Panellists agreed that conflict compromised families.
