HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari with other dignitaries at the conference yesterday.

QNA/Doha
HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari opened the first two-day scientific conference organised by the State Award for Children’s Literature here yesterday.
The conference is being held at Sharq Doha Hotel under the theme “Arab Child Identity and Culture Conference - Stakes and Challenges”.
An elite group of professors and researchers at universities and Arab children’s institutions from Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Algeria, Sudan and Syria are  taking part in the conference.
In his keynote speech, the Minister of Culture said that people and human communities are aware of the importance of education and culture and their role in children’s upbringing.
The Minister said that Qatar, upon the directives of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani,  has developed several programmes to highlight the importance of children’s culture, and to emphasise  their fundamental rights to a dignified life.
Minister al-Kuwari also pointed out that the communities sought to consolidate culture and instill it in the hearts of the children, noting that literature is an element of culture.
He warned of negative impact of information technology on a child’s personality, stressing the need for fortifying children against all risks arising from media and information flow.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the State Award For Children’s Literature, Kaltham Ali al-Ghanim said that the conference seeks to provide a practical and scientific vision that can help institutions, associations and workers in the field of child development.  
Representative of the Unesco office, Dr Anwar al-Said praised Qatar’s role in making programmes that would benefit children in marginalised areas around the world.