RIYADH, 17 May 2006 — Plans are under way to set up community centers throughout the Kingdom to enable people to get family counseling in their respective areas.
Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Awad Al-Radadi, who was inaugurating the first ever seminar titled “Family Counseling” at the Prince Salman Social Center yesterday, said that the centers would function under the ministry’s family counseling department, which was established recently.
The pervasiveness of electronic and print media, says Al-Radadi, “has necessitated the need for family counseling to assist the members of the family to guide them on the right path.”
He noted that his ministry has been running a call center from where the public can seek counseling for their social problems.
“Even now we get a large number of calls daily,” he indicated, pointing out that the ministry hopes to include this service also through the new centers.
The seminar’s chairman, Nasaer S. Aloud, said that the ministry hopes to establish more than 250 community centers to bring the members of the society under one umbrella. At present there is some 20 social centers in the Kingdom whose scope and objectives are limited, he added.
Besides the social problems, the centers will also provide a platform for community members to meet one another and help them organize community activities to develop their areas of interests for their welfare. He said that the centers will be run under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs and its activities will be funded by charitable and commercial organizations.
More than 250 Saudi men and women, who are actively engaged in social work in various parts of the Kingdom, attended the meeting. Among those who presented scientific papers at the seminar included academicians, psychiatrists and sociologists.
Aloud pointed out that a developing society would face several problems related to family and the community. “There should be healthy relations between husband and wife, parents and children, young and old,” he said, stressing that unity among family members wound contribute to a happy family, which would eventually lead to a sound society.
“Counseling is needed for those who suffer from depression and anxiety,” he said, adding that these mood disorders are due to various developments within the family.
