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Geneva /Information Office/ 17 September 2015/ Qatar attaches great importance to the older persons as its Constitution guaranteed that their rights are well-protected. It has also issued national legislation to ensure their legal, social security, housing, employment and health care protection. This came during a speech delivered by Noor Ibrahim Al Sada, the second secretary at the Permanent Mission of Qatar to the UN, Geneva, during an interactive dialogue the Independent Expert on the rights of older persons. Al Sada noted that the family remained the natural environment where older persons would be able to enjoy their rights. A rights-based approach should underpin care for older persons so that they could live independently and actively participate in social life, she added. Al Sada added that the State of Qatar adopted a number of policies and programs to enable the elderly to live with dignity and independence, including the population policy of the State of Qatar issued in 2009 that aimed at enabling older persons to actively participate in social and public life; the National Development Strategy (2011, 2016); as well as the social protection strategy that includes a plan to review the pension system and support for households supported by elderly people. She also pointed to a number of institutions and committees formed by the State of Qatar to promote and protect the rights of older persons, the most important of which is Qatar Foundation for Elderly People Care, an organization dedicated to improving the lives and status of seniors. The foundation aims to house the elderly, and the provision of health and social care services, and reintegration into society. The second secretary hailed efforts exerted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs as it initiated a department for the elderly and persons with disabilities affairs to develop and implement programs and services dedicated for this segment of the society. Al Sada also underscored Qatar's great role in the field of international cooperation with regards to elderly human rights, adding that Qatar participate regularly in the meetings of GCC committee for elderly care organized by the GCC Executive Office. Last February, she said, Doha received a number of leading international dementia experts to attend the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), and also participated in the meetings of the First WHO Ministerial Conference on Global Action Against Dementia that was held in Geneva in March, as well as supported the initiative, which aimed at raising awareness and mobilizing support for global action against dementia. Al Sada extended her thanks to Independent Expert on the rights of older persons Rosa Kornfeld-Matte for her efforts in carrying out its mandate and her invaluable report presented to this session.