On Thursday, January 24th 2008 at the Four Seasons Hotel, the Training Course on Social Gerontology, organized by SCFA in collaboration with the International Institute on Ageing, United Nations-Malta (INIA) for the period January-19th-24th, came to an end. The closing ceremony was attended by HE Mr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Khalifa, SCFA Secretary-General, HE Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Jabor Al-Thani, Elderly's Committee Chair, Professor Joseph Troisi, INIA Director, Dr Marvin Formoza and a number of SCFA staff besides a group of trainees in the Course

HE Secretary-General started the closing ceremony with an address in which he welcomed Professor Troisi, INIA Director and Dr Marvin Formoza who both supervised the Course which addressed the topic of social gerontology and aimed at training national staff working in the area of ageing and rehabilitating this staff to address the elderly's different needs. HE Secretary-General confirmed that the elderly occupy in the Moslem and Arab communities a high stature where they enjoy authority and form a social source on the family and community levels, and therefore, respecting them is a social as well as a religious value stated in our gracious Islamic religion, and our community's adherence to this value is confirmed by the State's leadership as the Permanent Constitution of the State of Qatar states that all citizens are equal in rights and public duties (Article 34) and that the family is the base of society whose pillars are religion, ethics and love of country. HE added saying that the law organizes the means that ensure family protection and strengthening its ties and maintaining motherhood, childhood and old age under its umbrella (Article 21). HE further on said that the Council of Ministers' decree, issued recently stating a 100% increase of the social security pension is considered an emiri gift that reflects the care of the State of Qatar under the leadership of HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir and the Heir Apparent HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani to improve the standard of living of the beneficiary groups on top of which come the elderly. HE pointed out that by instructions of HH Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned, SCFA President, SCFA has given priority to the care of this social segment by establishing the Qatari Foundation for Elderly's Care which aims at providing the appropriate health, social and psychological care services, as well as organizing programs and events by means of the Elderly's Committee and the Department of the Elderly. HE mentioned that SCFA had just completed preparing a strategy on the elderly that aimed at reckoning a better future for the elderly in Qatar and provide more services to them in order to improve their conditions and include them more in the community, and SCFA had organized many Arab and international conferences and forums among which was holding the First International Conference on the Elderly in April 2005 with the aim of orienting the international community towards the importance and necessity of formulating a realistic and futuristic vision to ensure the continuity of the link between the elderly and their communities, as well as SCFA had organized the Third Arab Forum on Elderly's Affairs in April 2004 whose theme was on how to handle the elderly psychologically, socially and institutionally, stressing the role of governments and organizations in this field.

On his part, HE Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Jabor Al-Thani expressed his deep happiness about holding this Course in the State of Qatar. HE referred to the necessity of exploring wider horizons in the field of serving the elderly as the development which occurred in our life recently led to widening the gap between the elderly and their children and grandchildren

Professor Troisi, INIA Director, confirmed that the aim of holding this Course was to educate Qatari youth on how to treat the elderly, taking into consideration the continually increasing number of the elderly in the Sate of Qatar

At the end of the concluding ceremony, HE SCFA Secretary-General honored HE Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Jabor Al-Thani and a number of trainees in the Course.