MOCD takes part in Gulf Family Forum
DUBAI: The Ministry of Community Development (MOCD) participated in the first Gulf Family Forum titled “Family Future Opportunities and Challenges in the Gulf,” organised by the Secretariat-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Family Affairs Council in Riyadh, on Sept. 14 and 15, coinciding with the “Gulf Family Day” which is held annually on Sept.14.
During the forum, the MOCD presented two working papers. The first was titled “The Impact of Virtual Reality and Technology on Family Cohesion in the Gulf Region,” presented by Eman Hareb Al Falahi, Director of the Social Protection Department, and the second, titled “The Reality of Senior Citizens in Light of Changes,” was presented by Alia Al Joker, Director of Family Development Department at the Ministry.
Al Falahi spoke about the Gulf family in light of the contemporary technological challenges, pointing to several, including how virtual society paterns replace social relations and dialogue between family members. She spoke about the penetration of family privacy and social relations, family members falling victim to electronic blackmail, cyberbullying, cyber addiction, especially addiction to electronic games, intellectual polarisation, the rebellion of children against the supervisory role of the family, and the emergence of new interactions.
She also spoke of forms of family relations which have fostered isolation and widened the gap between members of the same family and how some family members, especially children, fall victim to rumours and fake news that are oten re-circulated. She highlighted the importance of employing innovation and technology in facing family challenges with electronic applications to measure relations between family members. She spoke of taking advantage of parental control tools in smart devices, providing support proactively, conducting a digital ethical charter between family members to promote family closeness and designing electronic games that address the noble values of young people. Al Falahi also referred to the experience of the MOCD in establishing the “soun” application to ensure early detection of possible abuse against any family member, the ministry’s directives towards digital wellbeing and the national policy of digital wellbeing, which included initiatives and directives for children, students and family members in general, in addition to the designed (KID X) game for a balanced and responsible upbringing of children.