The Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), has submitted its evaluation of the special pre-marital education programme offered by the Family Consulting Centre (Wifaq), which equips soon-to-wed and newly-wed Qatari couples with skills that will strengthen their relationship and enable them to nurture healthy, stable families.
The in-depth assessment, initiated in 2017 following an agreement between DIFI and Wifaq, was conducted over the past year, with the aim of enhancing the programme’s content and outcomes through a comprehensive empirical study, and a multi-faceted evaluation of its various components.
The study is the first of its kind since the establishment of Wifaq’s pre-marital education programme in 2003, with research showing that successful completion of such programmes reduces the likelihood of divorce by 30%. The assessment, which took place in multiple phases, was conducted by the DIFI Research Division in collaboration with an international expert on marital and family studies.
Through this assessment, DIFI has continued its efforts to support the formulation of evidence-based family programmes that are rooted on best practices, and contribute to the health and stability of the Qatari family as a key social institution, an objective it shares with Wifaq. It delivered a number of recommendations for improving the programme, as well as proposing a comprehensive guide for enhancing the impact of Wifaq’s existing offerings for soon-to-wed and newlywed Qatari couples.
Noor Al Malki Al Jehani, Executive Director, DIFI, said that conducting this important assessment for Wifaq is another way in which DIFI aims to support strong, healthy Qatari families.
By examining the programme’s impact on family stability, and providing recommendations for strengthening its empirical grounding to include more experiential learning and skills-based training, DIFI endeavours to assist Wifaq to better equip couples with the skills needed to form and maintain the secure, lasting marriages that are the cornerstones of healthy, stable societies.’
Wifaq Executive Director Rashid Al Dossari said that the expert assessment of Wifaq’s pre-marital education programme, conducted by DIFI, is of paramount importance, as successful marriage is a highly-valued goal to Qataris and many research studies have shown that successful marriages promote mental, physical, and family health, while unstable marriages and marital conflicts undermine wellbeing.
Wifaq provides this programme in an effort to promote successful marriages, address marital distress, and prevent divorce. The results of the assessment will help Wifaq learn the extent to which such a programme is effective, whether some pre-marital education programmes are more effective than others, which aspects need improvement, and which topics need to be covered, as pre-marital education programmes are best defined as knowledge and skills-based training.’
For updates and more information, visit difi.org.qa.