The Ministry of Social Development participates in the Gulf Family Forum in the capital, Muscat

17-09-2023

The Ministry of Social Development participated in the Gulf Family Forum in its second edition, entitled “The Contemporary Gulf Family between Challenges and Aspirations,” which was organized by the Ministry of Social Development in the sisterly Sultanate of Oman, coinciding with Gulf Family Day, corresponding to the fourteenth of this month, with the participation of the most prominent figures, experts, and those interested in family affairs. And society at the Gulf level. The forum aims to exchange experiences in the field of family protection systems, in a way that enhances its cohesion and the interconnectedness of its members, and crystallizes a future Gulf vision to support community initiatives directed at addressing the challenges and problems facing the Gulf family, and emphasizes the importance of supporting the professional sectors for the best experiences directed at benefiting from modern technology, and proposing a framework of action. It takes into account the privacy of the most needy groups in the family in terms of means of care, rehabilitation and integration into society, in addition to coming up with practical recommendations that contribute to facilitating the transfer of expertise and experiences between the GCC countries in everything that enhances the reality of the Gulf family. During her participation, the psychotherapist at the Child Protection Center, Professor Raja Issa Al-Ajmi, reviewed the experience of the Kingdom of Bahrain in proactive measures to protect children, within the third dialogue session of the first day of the forum’s work, entitled “Best Practices and Policies to Protect the Gulf Family,” where she emphasized the Kingdom’s keenness Constantly updating the laws and regulations concerned with child protection, pointing in this regard to the issuance of the Law on Restorative Justice for Children and their Protection from Abuse since 2021, stressing that it constitutes a new success story added to the ongoing human rights and development process in cooperation between the executive and legislative authorities. During the working paper that I presented, I also touched on mechanisms to protect children from abuse, by activating the role of the Child Protection Center as a central body affiliated with the Ministry, which includes sub-offices for the Ministries of Justice, Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Interior, Health, Education, and the Public Prosecution, in addition to restructuring its board of directors. Every three years, with the membership of representatives of ministries and civil society, it is responsible for developing plans and programs to protect children and protect them from physical, psychological, or sexual abuse, neglect, or economic exploitation, providing treatment, psychological rehabilitation, and cultural and educational courses, and receiving complaints and reports via the line. Hotspot, the Public Prosecution, the police, or the competent official authorities. On the other hand, the Head of the Family Development Department at the Ministry, Ms. Maryam Hassan Yousef, participated in the dialogue sessions of the second day of the forum entitled “The Family Economy and its Impact on Strengthening the Cohesion of the Gulf Family,” and during the working paper she touched on the productive home registration record, and its goals aimed at economic and social empowerment. To Bahraini individuals and families, in addition to reviewing the most prominent benefits offered by the program, starting with obtaining a license within a legal framework and without registration fees, and benefiting from specialized development workshops and training courses to hone production skills, through free participation in local and international exhibitions, all the way to marketing products locally and globally. She also focused on the financing and incentive programs provided by the productive home registration registry by granting financial support to the family home for microfinance, in addition to allowing participation in the award of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa to encourage productive families, noting the importance of the role of home projects in promoting Family economy and family ties.