Under the auspices of His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Arab High-level Forum for Social Development which is organized by the Ministry of Social Development and Family on kicked off on the 7th and 8th of February In the presence of His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League, and a number of Arab development ministers, the meeting discusses the first day of the Doha Declaration adopted by the 32nd summit of Arab League under the theme "Moving beyond 2030 towards multidimensional social development" as well as a number of vital files that are crucial for joint Arab social development action, including the Second Arab Decade of Persons with Disabilities 2023-2032, and the Second Arab Report on Multidimensional Poverty.

Upon the forum opening, H.E. the Minister of Social Development and Family, Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad delivered a speech welcoming everyone:

“His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League, Her Excellency Nevine El-Kabbaj Minister of Social Solidarity of Egypt and Chairman of the 42nd Session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs, Her Excellency Mahinur Özdemir Turkish Minister of Family and Social Services. 

Your Excellencies, and our distinguished guests and participants, I welcome all of you to the work of the Arab High-level Forum for Multidimensional Social Development, which we are proud to host here today in Doha, we are meeting today to begin a new era of collaboration, solidarity and cooperation to achieve the Arab development goals, in order for our families and communities to embrace production as a way of life, moving past a culture of consumption that weakens nations instead of strengthening them.

 Our goal today is to work together to develop and invest in the Arab individual in an integrated manner. We will start by investing in his mind and methods of thought, particularly in his construction and production mentalities, in order to develop resilient, self-sufficient, and legitimate Arab societies.

This productive culture is a pure Arab culture, inherited from our ancestors, and we witnessed it as spontaneous behavior in our mothers who overcame the narrow situation by harnessing what facilitated it to be a door of livelihood or self-sufficiency. Today, we are following the same approach and path, so that our food, medicine, and livelihood are made by our own hands.

Dignified attendance
The changes and advancements in the Arab world require us to reevaluate the mechanisms and procedures for meeting the requirements and objectives of societies through new perspectives in the fields of social, economic, and psychological fields.

In the State of Qatar, we emphasize the importance of implementing the social dimensions of sustainable development goals by eradicating poverty, ensuring the rights of children and persons with disabilities, serving family-related social development issues and entrepreneurship.
 

We have no right to discuss the reasons for a just peace in the Middle East, let alone the Palestine issue, as development and growth follow peace. If not, we'll be back at the starting point. Not only are we considering how to mend wounds and recover from disasters, but we are also considering how to move towards inclusive social development.

The vulnerable and weak groups in the Arab world need greater care and attention during this sensitive stage, and families should play a bigger role in raising future generations that understand the need of multifaceted development.
We were excited to organize this discussion as a demonstration of our dedication to advancing cooperative Arab social development initiatives. In a way that validates the idea that no one should be left behind in the process of development, we believe that this conference will serve as a good foundation for improvement in the developmental state of Arab countries.

Allow me to explain some of the benefits and opportunities that this platform can bring us: 

• Sharing expertise and experiences, as well as solving difficulties. 
• Building bridges for Arab communication. This meeting provides an opportunity to build good relationships with our Arab sister countries.
• Encouraging creativity since the Arab country requires an integrated social protection mechanism that is compatible with both national and regional conditions, and we believe that this meeting provides an opportunity to set the groundwork for that mechanism. 

We now announce the launch of the Multidimensional Arab Social Development Forum, which will serve as a starting point for attaining comprehensive and sustainable development for our families, societies, and people.

Everyone is welcome.

The Sokoon application, which is being financed by the Social and Sports Activities Support Fund (Daam) and is an application for digitizing sign language in collaboration with the Mada Center, was introduced on the first day of the conference.
The goal of the Sokoon app is to create a social network that links users to all societal members and to assist people in learning Arabic sign language in a simple and engaging manner. 

This application automatically translates written and spoken texts into Arabic sign language using three-dimensional characters. It attempts to make it easier to communicate with the deaf community without the speaker having to know sign language, and the Sukoon application is a great tool for learning sign language in a fun and easy way.
The purpose of the application was to raise community awareness about sign language, and from there the idea developed into a product that aims to serve the deaf and mute group to some extent, but the greater goal is to spread the culture of sign language to build bridges of knowledge and extend bridges of dialogue with this group. 

This cooperation serves as a starting point for future collaboration between the two sides, resulting in better service to various segments of society and an easy-to-use platform for teaching the sign language approved in the State of Qatar, as well as spreading it to the Arab world, European countries, and America.

This agreement arises from the (Daam) Fund's pioneering role in promoting sustainable development and social activities in accordance with the Qatar National Vision 2030. 

The forum focused on long-term solutions to improve the quality of life for Arab individuals and communities, as well as a number of essential files that should be prioritized in collaborative Arab social development work. At the forefront of this was the continued implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan, especially in its social dimensions that affect the lives of Arab citizens, as well as issues related to weak and vulnerable groups in society, particularly people with disabilities, and ways to increase their integration in all fields of public life and challenges of diverse approaches to poverty eradication.

During the meeting, the State of Qatar's efforts to support, empower, and care for individuals with disabilities were reviewed. The role of the Ministry of Social Development and Family in implementing several initiatives that support ways to fully integrate people with disabilities, as well as the Arab classification of people with disabilities, were discussed as the Arab region's most significant achievements in this regard. The forum addresses legislation, policies, social, health, and educational services that will allow this group to live independently, as well as participate in political, cultural, and sporting activities. 

This meeting is seen as a vital chance to inform Arab Ministers of Social Affairs and participating delegations about Qatar's successful development and social experiences, as well as its pioneering social initiatives. The results of this session will be presented at the next Arab summit.