The Ministry of Social Development and Family (MSDF) took part in the seminar “Media Literacy Week… What You See Is Not the Whole Truth,” organised by the Qatar Press Center in cooperation with MSDF and the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science. The seminar was held on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, at the Qatar Press Center headquarters, with the participation of a group of experts in media, family development and mental health, including a representative of the UNESCO Regional Office for the GCC States and Yemen.

The seminar addressed several themes, including digital media and international responsibility, national policies and the “Digitally Aware Family” campaign, and mental health and the family in the digital environment.

MSDF was represented at the seminar by Ms. Nouf Ibrahim Al-Abdullah, Assistant Director of the Family Development Department.

Ms. Al-Abdullah affirmed that the family is the first line of defence in protecting children in the digital space. She stressed the importance of building trust, strengthening dialogue between parents and children, and promoting safe and balanced use of technology.

She explained that the “Digitally Aware Family” campaign, launched by MSDF, aims to empower families to protect their children’s privacy, confront cyberbullying and online extortion, detect risks early, and seek support when needed. The campaign comes in response to the growing use of technology by children and adolescents, and to the challenges identified by the national entities concerned with child protection and digital safety.

She noted that, alongside the launch of the campaign, MSDF launched the Digital Safety website (www.esafety.qa). She said: “The ESafety website is a unified gateway that gives families and members of the community easy access to the awareness materials, guides and trusted tools provided by the relevant national entities. It helps parents manage their children’s digital use safely, verify information, and identify reporting and support channels when needed.”

She added that measuring the campaign’s impact will focus on changes in families’ awareness and daily behaviour. This includes encouraging conversations about digital content, activating protection tools suited to children’s ages, and adopting preventive practices at home, in addition to using evaluation surveys to develop awareness programmes.

She pointed out that digital safety is a shared national responsibility in which the roles of the family, school, media and competent authorities complement one another. She concluded: “Protecting children in the digital space begins with an aware family, is strengthened through dialogue and trust, and is completed through partnership between the family, the school and the relevant national entities.”

MSDF’s participation in the seminar reflects its commitment to strengthening national and international partnerships to spread a culture of media literacy and digital safety, and to supporting families in facing the challenges of the digital space. This is in line with MSDF’s 2025–2030 Strategy, under the slogan “From Care to Empowerment,” and contributes to achieving the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.