The Ministry of Social Development and Family participated in the Gulf Family Forum 2023 titled “Contemporary Gulf Family Day Forum—The Challenges and Aspirations”, at the Grand Millennium Hotel in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. The most prominent figures at the Gulf level and experts in Gulf organizations concerned with the family participated to discuss the challenges, aspirations and Gulf family values and their impact on raising a more productive generation to invest in future opportunities.

This forum coincides with Gulf Family Day, which falls on 14 September every year. It will discuss six topics during the 13th and 14th of this month, including issues of importance to the family, as well as involving those interested in social affairs, universities, research centers and centers concerned with the family, and hosting the most prominent figures and experts in the Gulf countries regarding the family to discuss the challenges, aspirations and Gulf family values and their impact on raising a more productive generation to invest in future opportunities.

Mr. Ghanem Mohammed Al-Diab, an expert at the Ministry of Social Development and Family, presented a paper on the first day on the balance between work and the role of parents and its impact on family cohesion, especially the role of the Gulf family in protecting the values of its children in light of global changes, and its impact in raising a more productive generation to invest in opportunities the present and the future. He pointed out that providing high-quality care homes for children under the age of compulsory education near workplaces could help positively.

Dr. Noura Hassan, a family studies expert, discussed divorce and its causes, which are mostly the result of differences in culture, customs and character, and the increasing role of women over the past quarter century and the attempt to prove themselves, which led to a decline in their role at times, and when men notice that decline, A clash occurs, which often escalates until it leads to divorce. Women's work in particular is not the cause of all divorces, and it is no secret to you that marital disputes are among the things that have the most psychological impact on children, because they instill fear within them as a result of a feeling of loss of stability and security.

Mrs. Maryam Al-Taweel, the Ministry’s psychological expert, also confirmed that the Ministry’s specializations are working to launch several initiatives and projects that enhance family cohesion, such as the First Year of Marriage Program, which is a multi-dimensional program concerned primarily with qualifying those about to get married and new spouses to support and stabilize emerging families by providing psychological and social family services.