Media Center

Geneva - Media & Communication Dept. - September 15

The State of Qatar has affirmed its attention, in the context of achieving community protection, to building a strong, cohesive family that represents a basic pillar for protecting and promoting the rights of all its members, especially the elderly, out of its conviction that the family is the natural environment for the elderly to enjoy their rights and to live with dignity.

Third Secretary in the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Saud Abdullah Al Hanzab, during delivering the State of Qatar's statement at the interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, within the United Nations Human Rights Council's 54th session in Geneva, pointed out that the elderly enjoy a high status in the State of Qatar, and concern for them in Qatari society is based on basic foundations, the most important of which are religious duty and societal cultural values that require reverence, respect and protection of the elderly.

He highlighted that the State of Qatar has worked to promote and protect the rights of the elderly by taking various legislative, policy and executive measures. The elderly enjoy a number of specialized services that suit their needs and priorities, which are provided to them through many public and private institutions, such as the National Committee for the Affairs of Women, Children, the Elderly, and Persons with Disabilities and the Center for Empowerment and Care of the Elderly (Ihsan), he added.

Al Hanzab explained that these services include: specialized health care, legal protection, social security, housing, and other services that aim to provide economic, psychological, health and physical security for them, enable them to participate effectively and positively in development, and utilize their expertise in economic and social construction.