Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser’s Speech 30th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family Global Conference

Welcome.

Ladies and gentlemen,

There is no doubt that the problems facing families are similar in all societies, but they differ in character from one country to the next. Families from the global north and those from the global south share many concerns. The most prominent are the negative impacts of technology and the issue of preserving mother tongues and cultural identities in an increasingly globalized world. These are universal challenges affecting countries that may not have the cultural, economic and developmental tools to withstand them.

Allow me, as an Arab, to address the challenges facing Arab families. The principal challenge is the profound impact of technology. Noone can deny the tremendous benefits technology has brought us, but those benefits are not without their social cost.

We are all consumers of digital technology, and find ourselves susceptible to gorging on it, forgetting boundaries and surrendering ourselves to a virtual world, giving ourselves up to it as we attempt to escape harsh reality. This alienation can be dangerous, and may keep younger generations in particular, from their culture and language, and — crucially — from forming a fully rounded identity.

In this virtual world, third parties control the content — everything we see — and use it serve their own agendas. They have turned us into products to be bought and sold.  I could call this “digital feudalism”. Followers preach, day and night, their belief in freedom of expression, but recoil when someone expresses a view that differs from their own. We see this in attempts to censor social media, resulting in the promotion of ideas and stereotypes that homogenize thought in the virtual world.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Another challenge that faces us, as Arabs, is the defense of the status of the mother tongue in our lives, ideas, and educational curricula. The Arabic language is at the core of our identity: a repository for our history, values, culture, and the wisdom of our ancestors.

Taking pride in our own language does not prevent us from learning other languages and deepening our understanding. But we must insist that the language we learn should not take us away from our mother tongue. Proficiency in another language should not come at the cost of our own.

I am disappointed to note Arab youth using the English language in daily communication, unashamed to claim that they express themselves better in English than they can in Arabic. Perhaps what threatens the Arabic language most is that Arab children will abandon it even while living their own cultural environment.

The Arabic language is us. Without it, we become hybrids with half-formed identities.

And so, we have arrived at the third challenge, because language is the vessel in which our culture is formed. Our identity is forged by both language and culture. If we care about our cultural identity, we are left with no choice other than to protect and take pride in our Arabic language, thereby shielding our culture from foreign attack. The Arabic language is what unites us as Arab nations, determined to defend our shared identity after the decline of other unifying factors.

What is happening in Gaza today only serves to demonstrate the fundamental necessity of encouraging Arab unity and pride. We have seen in Gaza what a strong and proud nation can withstand. The women, children and men of Gaza epitomize heroic determination as they confront the ongoing onslaught of genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement that attempts to eradicate their cultural and religious identity.

In the face of overwhelming tragedy, we have watched as the children of Gaza have been forced to grow up. They have experienced neither childhood nor adolescence, stepping instead straight into the robes of adulthood.

A strong family foundation prepares confident children, aware of their roots and proud of their identity. Children who are aware of their social responsibility in their communities and who understand their obligations to society as well as their rights.

Ladies and gentleman,

As I have stated, the concerns and affairs of the family, while they differ in cultural contexts, remain largely similar. Our humanity is what unites us and we must protect it for a better more just, peaceful and sustainable future.

I wish you all every success in this conference.