Doha, November 01 (QNA) - The Qatari Lawyers Association (QLA) organized the Young Professionals Forum on Sunday in pursuit of enhancing cooperation among professional associations, further entrenching social responsibility and strengthening young people's role in national development.

The forum was held under the patronage and in the presence of HE Minister of Social Development and Family, Buthaina bint Ali Al Jabr Al Nuaimi, with the participation of several officials, heads of professional associations, experts and academics.

The forum sought to boost cooperation across professional disciplines, reinforce social responsibility and bolster young people's role in national development.

In her opening remarks, HE Al Nuaimi said professional associations were among the foremost components of civil society, whose roles were not confined to serving their affiliates and advancing their professional practices, but extended to contributing to societal development, spreading knowledge within their purview, and promoting values of responsibility and societal engagement.

The Ministry had invariably been committed to supporting private associations and institutions, enabling them to fulfill their roles and strengthen their institutional capabilities, HE the Minister underlined, noting that these efforts sought to substantially expand their societal impact and reinforce their roles as effective partners in achieving Qatar National Vision 2030.

She pointed out that joint efforts among these and other associations were quite important to benefit from the capabilities and expertise of civil society institutions and leverage them to launch initiatives. She also noted that expanding opportunities for participation and giving was instrumental in achieving reciprocal benefits for individuals and society.

HE the Minister said she hoped the forum would provide an opportunity to strengthen young professionals' engagement and unlock plenty of opportunities for cooperation and integration across a variety of professional disciplines. She highlighted that young people were partners in shaping the present and future, provided that investment in their capabilities began by affording them opportunities to learn, engage, put initiatives forward and shoulder responsibility.

Empowering young people professionally did not materialize solely through enhancing their capabilities and knowledge, but also hinged on providing them with space to develop their professional practices, spur their ideas and initiatives, and deepen their ability to keep pace with developments and respond to evolving professional demands, HE Al Nuaimi emphasized.

With the world evolving and interdisciplinary fields increasingly intersecting, combining legal expertise with engineering, computing and other professional disciplines was quite imperative to turbocharge knowledge exchange, advance practices and achieve more powerful outcomes, HE the Minister noted.

She affirmed her pleasure at seeing QLA, Qatar Society of Engineers, Qatar Association of Certified Public Accountants (QCPA), and Qatar Experts and Arbitrators Cultural Awareness Association taking part in the forum as a model that suggested that integration across various professional disciplines could substantially strengthen collaborative work.

The Minister further remarked that cooperation among professional associations offered an opportunity to foster institutional partnerships and turn them into joint programs that helped share expertise, enhance young people's capabilities, and bolster societal awareness and responsibility.

HE Al Nuaimi stressed that social responsibility was not merely an additional activity undertaken by professional associations and private institutions, but an integral part of their mission and role in serving society.

She highlighted that professional associations, drawing on their specialized expertise and sophisticated personnel, played an instrumental role in bolstering social responsibility by raising awareness, sharing knowledge, participating in community initiatives and putting their expertise to work for different segments of society, each within its purview.

The Minister welcomed initiatives launched by QLA in collaboration with its partners, enabling young lawyers to provide individuals and families with voluntary legal awareness and advice. She hoped the forum would serve as a springboard for similar initiatives, fostering substantive partnerships between professional institutions and the community.

HE the Minister underscored the Ministry's aspiration to provide young professionals with greater opportunities to participate in these initiatives and contribute their ideas and expertise to advancing community work, strengthening their engagement with society's concerns and embodying the values of initiative, giving and responsibility.

The forum also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between QLA, QCPA and Qatar Experts and Arbitrators Cultural Awareness Association to bolster institutional cooperation, exchange expertise and develop joint professional initiatives.

The forum's agenda featured three panel discussions. The first examined the transition from specialization to integration and the power of joint professional action, focusing on coordination among professional associations and leveraging specialized expertise to advance collaborative work. It brought together chairpersons of the boards of the lawyers, certified public accountants, engineers, experts and arbitrators associations.

The second session examined social responsibility as a duty extending to the younger generation, exploring how professional institutions and associations could foster youth participation in community initiatives. Participants included representatives from the Doha International Family Institute, the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), the Ministry of Social Development and Family (MSDF), and QLA.

The third session focused on young people and shaping the future of professions, from learning to leadership. It examined ways to develop young national talent and prepare them to assume leadership roles, with representatives from Qatar University, the Ministry of Justice, the Qatar Experts and Arbitrators Cultural Awareness Association, and the Qatar Career Development Center.

The forum wrapped up with calls to expand partnerships between professional associations and national institutions and develop joint initiatives to prepare young talent and reinforce the role of professions in serving society, thereby contributing to national development priorities.

The gathering was part of a series of independent events organized by the association under its broader forum program to mark the 20th anniversary of its establishment, with the aim of bolstering professional dialogue, exchanging expertise and vastly expanding prospects for institutional cooperation. (QNA)