Jeddah, 03 Rabi Al-Thani 1440 AH, corresponding to 10 December 2018, the Council for Family Affairs, in cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), organized today the activities of the symposium “Procedures and Specific Indicators to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals from a Family Perspective” in the presence of the Secretary General of the Council for Family Affairs, Dr. Hala bint Mazeed Al-Tuwaijri, the Assistant Secretary General for Cultural and Humanitarian Affairs of the OIC, Ambassador Hisham Yousef, and representatives of member states, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Jeddah Governorate. At the beginning of the symposium, Dr. Al-Tuwaijri delivered a speech in which she thanked the OIC for its efforts in organizing the symposium and the interaction of member states and their nomination of experts to participate in the symposium to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals from a family perspective. She reviewed the challenges faced by the family in the contemporary world in light of the economic and social changes, stressing the importance of preserving the values of the institution of marriage and the family and strengthening the mechanisms of cooperation between the OIC and international institutions and organizations in charge of family, women and children’s issues.

She looked forward to exchanging experiences to discuss ways to implement this in the near future and seek to include plans and indicators that take into account the priorities of the family in all sustainable development goals, in addition to the emergence of a methodology to be guided by Member States to be able to give the family the priority it deserves in national plans and voluntary reports that they submit to the United Nations and the whole world.

Ambassador Hisham Yousef then delivered a speech in which he emphasized that the family is considered the main factor for achieving social security and sustainable development, noting the need to take into account the fundamental role played by the family in development policies, as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has paid special attention to family issues. Then, the first working session of the symposium started, during which the draft agenda was adopted and the OIC institutions presented the specific actions and indicators for achieving the SDGs from a family perspective in the Member States, and highlighted the efforts of the partner institutions on the specific actions and indicators for achieving the SDGs from a family perspective.