Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2018 Issue 4

This paper aims to understand the Islamic perspectives on Legal Capacity governing Healthcare for people with Disabilities. This paper will first focus on Legal capacity in general which derives from the Article 12 of the Convention of the rights of people with disabilities, and will then discuss how this aspect of the CRPD is applied within the context of Sharia'h law in healthcare in Qatar.The recognition of legal capacity allows an Incapacitated individual access to make fundamental decisions, such as where to reside and what kind of medical care to receive. Without legal capacity, a person is relegated to the status of an object rather than an independent human being with thoughts, emotions, and opinions without this (Quinn et al., 2002). This concept of Legal capacity was introduced in the CPRD through the paradigm shift from the Medical Model to the Social/ Human rights model. Before the adoption of the CRPD, the medical model did not permit legal capacity, and as a result, decision-making system followed the substitute decision-making system, carried out through guardianship, conservatorship, and deputyship.The current social/ human rights model in place views disabled people as rights holders and full-fledged members of the society. It places emphasis on the interaction between individuals and social barriers like discrimination, exclusion or prejudice which prevent persons with disabilities from exercising their legal capacity, through empowerment and normality of disability represents a high priority (O’ Mahony 2012). This Human rights model promotes supported decision-making over previously practiced Substituted decision-making, with the intent to remedy unequal treatment of people with disabilities. Islamic countries draw distinction between legal capacity for rights, and legal capacity to act. The Islamic countries use the former as the accepted definition of legal capacity. Legal capacity for rights is interpreted as the fitness of a person to be subject of legal relations, and thus refers to an individual's status within a given legal system. Islamic countries had a reservation to the Article 12, which was in line with their own definition of Legal capacity.Islamic perspectives on legal capacity for people with mental disabilities could be fitting in the medieval context, but cannot necessarily be applied in modern times.Most mental health laws specifically allow for the denial of legal capacity of people with a mental health diagnosis (McSherry & Weller, 2010). This denial of legal capacity on the basis of psycho-social disability is a direct contravention of Article 12(2) of the CRPD.Adopting the substituted decision-making system has anti-therapeutic effects as individuals tend to gradually lose their functional ability to exercise rights and they can hardly recover their decision –making capacities under the guardianship system. In practice – most cases of incapacitation result in plenary guardianship, which eventually means that the person in question will be denied the legal capacity in all areas of life. The Sharia'h compliant Civil Code of Qatar allows people with physical and sensory disabilities the possibility of having a judicial assistant (Article 127).In Qatar, Persons with psycho-social disabilities may be deprived of legal capacity. The culture encourages interdependence, rather than the independence, of individual family members, who internalize a group rather than an individual decision-making process. In 2016, a law on Mental Health was approved. It regulates – for the first time – involuntary hospitalization and forced medical treatment in Qatar.In our view, for Qatar to become fully CRPD compliant, efforts need to be made to extend supported decision-making through the Sharia'h compliant Civil Code (Article 127) to people with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities. ReferencesMcSherry, Bernadette, and Penelope Weller, eds. Rethinking rights-based mental health laws. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010.O»Mahony, Charles. «Legal capacity and detention: implications of the UN disability convention for the inspection standards of human rights monitoring bodies.» The International Journal of Human Rights 16.6 (2012): 883-901.Quinn, Gerard, et al. «Human rights and disability.» Derechos Humanos y Discapacidad], HR/PUB/02/1, United Nations (2002).

As journalism organizations have made the transition to digital publications, social media platforms and mobile applications, journalists’ technology skills have been put to the test. Many professional organizations have decried the lack of essential digital competencies and the need for training. In 2014, the Poynter Institute released its Core Skills for the Future of Journalism report, detailing 37 key skills or attributes and knowledge areas (Finberg & Klinger, 2014). More recently, the International Center for Journalism's 2017 survey on The State of Technology in Global Newsrooms found “a perilous digital skills gap” in newsrooms worldwide (ICFJ, 2017). Based on a survey of more than 2,700 journalists and newsroom managers in 130 countries across 12 languages, ICFJ concluded that many newsrooms were lacking in 23 core digital skills. These skills include: digital photography, engaging audience on social media, using analytics and web statistics, video production and editing and working with graphics, among others. Not surprisingly, these calls to action from industry leaders have not gone unnoticed in the academy. Education organizations such as the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Broadcast Education Association and the Journalism Educators Association have written reports or held workshops addressing the integration of digital skills into the curriculum. However, based on our experience a number of obstacles, including accreditation and lack of faculty expertise, prevent curriculum overhaul, leading these digital skills to be implemented less efficiently and effectively than industry leaders might desire. Our pilot study examines the curricula of undergraduate journalism and mass communication programs in the Middle East to evaluate whether and how they have included digital skills in their programs. To be included in the census, the program must feature English-language instruction of undergraduate students leading to a bachelor's-equivalent degree in the field and be accredited (either at the program-level or institutional-level) by an internationally recognized organization. For each university, the researchers collected university catalogs, program descriptions and course descriptions. These documents were then analyzed to evaluate the inclusion of ICFJ's 23 digital skills into the journalism and mass communication programs. Our research indicates that programs in the region have been slow to incorporate these digital skills into the curricula despite calls from the industry dating back almost a decade. Skills in video production, website design and audio production were more common, while courses emphasizing analytics, podcasting and virtual reality were far less likely to be offered. Relevant Pillar: Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities: Education, Labor & Migration Our pilot study is aimed at improving education here in Qatar by providing a better understanding of how other journalism and mass communication programs are implementing digital skills instruction into their curricula. Our study serves as a strong foundation for future pedagogy research in the realm of journalism and mass communication education around the world. Ideally, this and subsequent research can help universities better equip their journalism and mass communication students with the skills needed to succeed in an ever-changing media industry. References Finberg, Howard I. & Klinger, Lauren. (2014). “Core Skills For the Future of Journalism.” Poynter Institute. Retrieved from http://www.newsu.org/course_files/CoreSkills_FutureofJournalism2014v2.pdf International Center for Journalism. (2017, October 6). “The State of Technology in Newsrooms.” Nature. Retrieved from http://medium.icfj.org/a-study-of-technology-in-newsrooms-cea3252ce5df

Introduction: In order to create and sustain a competitive, knowledge-based economy, Qatar must be able to continually attract, retain and integrate expatriate workers. As described in the Qatar National Development Strategy (QNV 2011 p. 105), “for the foreseeable future … Qatar will not have enough citizens to meet the expanding requirements of a rapidly growing, diversifying and technologically advanced economy.” Attracting the right mix of expatriates and retaining the best ones, however, is a major challenge for economy with a highly ambitious post-oil agenda, located in an unstable region, and where over 90% of workers are both foreign and temporary. Yet, little is known as to Qatar's place attractiveness and local security affect the mobility of the country's diverse expatriate population. First, Qatar needs to constantly attract new flows of knowledge and labor needed for economic development and to retain existing pool of skilled foreign workers. This means ensuring that workers view Doha as a comparably more attractive destination than Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat, Riyadh or Singapore. By definition, the expatriate workforce of Qatar is mobile; that is, with the exception of those born in Qatar, each has already migrated at least once. How do expatriates view Qatar in comparison with other centers, and would they move elsewhere for a better offer? Second, Qatar must ensure that the regional instability seen elsewhere does not impact its reputation as a secure and stable oasis in the Middle East. At the same time, most of the middle- and high-income expatriate workers currently employed in Qatar come the Arab world, many of whom are not new arrivals but long-term members of the expatriate community in Qatar. Some come from the region»s most insecure and unstable locations, which may affect their mobility. How do expatriate residents view the security and stability of Qatar, especially in relation to that of their home countries? Data and Methods: Therefore, SESRI conducted a nationally representative of middle- and high-income expatriates (with a basic salary of greater than 4000 QR per month) to examine the mobility of expatriates currently living in Qatar and the conditions under which they may leave the country. This survey included a randomized choice experiment in which respondents were given sets of hypothetical job offers with varying salaries in a number of regional destinations which are often viewed as competitors for Qatar. They were then asked whether they would choose to take the offer in the new location or stay in Qatar. The survey also included questions related to the security and stability of the respondent's home country and his and her ability to return home. Thus project investigate the relative attractiveness of Qatar in relation to other common expatriate destinations in the Gulf and East Asia in conjunction with salary; second, to examine how expatriate residents view the security and stability of Qatar, especially in relation to that of their home countries. In so doing we come better understand how deeply rooted and locally integrated expatriate workers are in Qatar. Accordingly we discuss legislation relevant to expatriate workers in Qatar and its implications for different resident groups. Preliminary Finding: Results indicate that Qatar is rather competitive among similar regional expatriate destinations, and that as long as salaries are competitive the country can retain Westerner and Asian migrants. Arab migrants respond very little to salary increases or decreases. None of the nationality groups seem overly driven by place attractiveness, and most seem to view living in Doha the same as other regional centers. Arabs expatriates in particular are deeply rooted, driven by security and community, but we found that many from this group are unable to return to their home countries. These results are discussed in the context of recent legislative initiatives in Qatar.

Sustainable urban design of cities in the 21st century is challenged by serious problems centered around the over-dependency on the car as a the main transportation system. The car has generated problems of urban inefficiency, contributing to traffic congestion, pollution, fragmentation of urban fabric and other environmental and social challenges. In the context of Doha, Capital City of the State of Qatar, the over-dependency on the car is justified by the lack of alternative modes of transportation that could support the need to connect fragmented urban districts and provide an effective solution to urban sprawl. Therefore, the implementation of an alternative transportation system in Doha, represented by Qatar Rail, is creating potential for a urban development that addresses recent challenges of livability, sustainability and urban growth in cities. Referring to applicable cases in other countries and regions that have successfully implemented alternative transportation systems, the planning of LRT (light rail transit systems) and transit villages (or Transit Oriented Developments, known as TODs) is proving the workable approach of urban revitalization. Thus, the fragmentation of the urban development of Doha must be tackled through this approach. The cultural core of Doha is an attractive site for an integrated urban development that considers urban livability, connectivity and sustainability of the public realm. This research study explores (1) how public transit systems can be utilized as means of urban transformation and regeneration in the cultural core of Doha; (2) the progress and implications of the development of the new transportation system for the planning of Doha's built environment; and (3) the extent to which Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) are strategic for sustainable urbanism and smart growth in Qatar. The aim of the research is (1) to explore and investigate the extent to which the spatial form of the built environment of the cultural core of Doha can be enhanced through TOD; (2) to amplify cultural value, social interactions and/or social capital and, therefore, contributing to creating a more livable environment. Data is obtained through rigorous site analysis of the multiple urban layers of three selected sites within the cultural core of Doha. This approach is directed toward the understanding of the remodeling potential of the cultural center of Doha responding to the introduction of the new rail system. The implementation of a well-structured TOD is expected to foster a cultural revival of the city's cultural core and provide sustainable and livable choices that support sustainable urbanism and focuses on quality of life within cities of today. The research study explores the locations of Qatar Rail metro stations in three vibrant areas of Doha's cultural core. The three areas are (A) Msheireb Downtown Doha, (B) Souq Waqif and (C) the National Museum of Qatar. The exploration includes review of the relevant literature on the urban history of the three selected cases, in addition to a site analysis that considers the location of the metro stations and adjacent districts. The research study concludes by envisioning designed models of TODs, based on resultant planning strategy and development guidelines. The final urban design schemes propose an integrated mix-use development, comprising residential, business, and commercial activities, located within a walking distance from the three transit stations in Doha's cultural core, introducing a new compact and livable community development. Findings are contributing to the application of TODs in Qatar by enhancing the strategic planning of Qatar Rail to effectively incorporate such concept within the planning of the new project. Also, this research study contributes to the provision of an applicable model for the implementation of TODs in Qatar and in the Middle East Region (MENA), addressing the enduring challenges of urbanism and urban planning in the Islamic city.

This paper examines whether institutional characteristics distinguishing Islamic from conventional banks lead to distinctive capital and earnings management behaviour through the use of loan loss provisions. In our sample countries including Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan, the two banking sectors operate under different regulatory frameworks: conventional banks currently apply the ‘incurred’ loan loss model until 2018 whereas Islamic banks mandatorily adopt an ‘expected’ loan loss model under the AAOIFI standards. Our results provide significant evidence of capital and earnings management practices via loan loss provisions in conventional banks. This finding is more prominent for large and loss-generating banks. By contrast, Islamic banks tend not to use loan loss provisions in either capital or earnings management, irrespective of the bank's size, earnings profile or the structure of their loan loss model. This difference may be attributed to the constrained business model of Islamic banking, strict governance and ethical orientation

Quality of reporting intellectual capital: The case of QSE QNV2030 has been launched to transform Qatar towards achieving sustainable development. Developing QSE to guide the economic growth is an essential pillar of QNV2030. The subject of this thesis can be classified under accounting for economic growth of QNV2030. Since the diagnostic of the status of reporting intellectual capital is at the crux of sustainable development. The importance of developing strong financial market requires better understanding of financial disclosure inside QSE “national financial reporting system”. Most importantly, new issues and questions are being raised regarding the implications of QSE financial reporting and the role of government in the development and maintenance of the financial reporting base. Identifying “best practices” for the IC reporting is a focal point of strength of QSE. The burgeoning field of intellectual capital is an exciting area for both researchers and practitioners. According to the purpose of this study, IC combines various concepts (i.e. human capital, structural capital, and relational capital). A variety of models have surfaced in an attempt to measure IC and this thesis aims to build unique measurement model based on strengths, weaknesses and operationalization of those models. It is expected that the current study will provide quality indications about the current level of IC disclosure in QSE. This study is based on empirical results of the original data drawn from sample of 43 companies of QSE. The proposed research sample has been designed to cover time series of five years period extend from 2012 to 2016. The paper presents the findings of extensive research that show the type and quality of IC reporting which can help to strengthen the awareness of financial reporting in QSE. It can be concluded that IC reporting in QSE divides into traditional and non-traditional based on the components of IC. Being an emergent financial market, classification of Qatar as one of code law countries, and diffusion of personal sources of funding, are the key limitations of this study.

Background: The national CME/CPD framework provides learning opportunities to HCPs to upgrade their competencies. All licensed HCPs in Qatar are required to complete CPD cycle requirements to maintain their licensure. Quality improvement and safe patient care being main objectives of the CME/CPD program, quality improvement activities are given due consideration in the CME/CPD framework. Summary of Work: This work provides a review of National CME/CPD framework to identify the learning opportunities it provides to HCPs to improve their professional practice. The review results were analyzed how these contribute to quality improvement in patient care programs within the healthcare sector in Qatar. Results: The CME/CPD framework of Qatar provides diverse educational opportunities to HCPs organized under Group-learning, self-directed and assessment activities to improve their professional practice. The CME/CPD framework recognizes the participation of HCPs in quality projects and research relevant to their practice for upto 10 credits per project/activities that can be recorded under self-directed learning. The ePortfolio indicates that the HCPs are actively participating in the quality projects. Discussion: The CPD framework provides plenty of learning opportunities to improve professional competencies that are expected from HCPs and links learning to its impact on healthcare outcomes. Engaging in quality improvement projects supports new ideas, unfamiliar situations, changing roles and making the most productive use of resources including people, time, information, networks and budgets. The framework not only helps the HCPs to set targets of high priority, practical, achievable and challenging aspects of CPD rather encourages them to recognize and take advantage of the opportunities that arise from their day-to-day work experience and unexpected challenges. The quality projects are reviewed and monitored for the outcomes and remedial actions are intervened wherever necessary, these are considered significant means of enhancing the effectiveness of quality projects. The quality improvement projects helps the HCPs in their research about safety and quality issues which is the foundation for evidence-based processes of, identifying areas for improvement for change, helps reduce risks pertaining to delivery of care. The CPD framework also provides opportunities to HCPs for research work and clinical audits that ensures quality improvement and practice. This is done against their development plans that can be measured in terms of either new or improved competence. Conclusions: The National CME/CPD framework for all HCPs with diverse learning opportunities. CME/CPD framework meets the current challenges of healthcare community like evidence-based learning, research that enhance an understanding and commitment to organizational values. Quality and system improvement are core to patient safety, which improve the skills of the HCPs that form robust primary healthcare teams delivering quality and safe patient-care. The HCPs learn time, process, team and self-management from the QI projects they are engaged in and this impacts the outcomes of patient-care they deliver. It emphasizes on the importance of QI and encourages active participation of HCPs in QI projects/activities. Take home message: Quality improvement tools help HCPs understand the actual trends, patterns of their work and mapping process, monitoring and finding solutions and self-development that will improve the quality of care.

Teaching Fellow for Museums, Heritage and Archaeology University College London (UCL), Qatar Proposal for Poster Display at ARC’18 Title Connecting theory to practise in postgraduate higher education. The case study of UCL Qatar work placements. Introduction One issue of significant importance regarding higher education teaching practises has been to which extent postgraduate education provides with students the opportunity to connect theory to practise on the subjects they are studying. By connecting theory to practise, postgraduate students are given the opportunity to enhance their academic skills and develop critical thinking on how what is being discussed within a lecture room may be applied professionally in the field they are interested in. The benefits and advantages of hands on experience is multidimensional and evident in cases where it is integrated into the process and structure of the educational curriculum. As Te Wiata's (2001) research findings report, the ability of students to demonstrate and integrate skills that relate to their enhancement of knowledge and professional advancement, is highly connected with their development of confidence in applying knowledge into contexts such as the workplace. There are many different ways so as to provide postgraduate students with the opportunity to practically apply the theories they absorb through academic readings and lectures and this is a process that requires careful and well thought planning on behalf of the academic team of each postgraduate course. The specific poster's presentation main goal is to present the findings of successfully connecting theory to practise by UCL Qatar – a university part of Qatar's Education City, specifically accomplished by incorporating work placements as modules for postgraduate students studying cultural heritage during the years 2013-2017. Presentation of Case Study UCL Qatar, a leading centre of excellence for the study of cultural heritage (UCL Qatar, 2017), is one of Qatar Foundation's Education City universities. Since September 2012 when the fist cohort of students arrived in Doha and until October 2017 when this poster display proposal is written, UCL Qatar has offered four masters degrees in Cultural Heritage and Information Studies and more specifically, an MA in Museum and Gallery Practice, an MSc in Conservation Studies, an MA in Archaeology of the Arab and Islamic World and an MA in Library and Information Studies. One of the main concerns of the faculty members at UCL Qatar while structuring these masters courses, was to provide the opportunity to our postgraduate students to apply in practise all academic knowledge they acquire throughout their studies. Furthermore, understanding the need to create links between postgraduate studies and the employment market, we wanted to provide our students the chance to dive into the actual workforce and have the experience of working with professionals directly related with their field of studies. For these purposes, a postgraduate module was structured for each of our masters degrees, the Placement Module, where each student would have to pursue a placement in an established institution or organisation within Qatar or abroad. Practise based research methodology and results The proposed poster presentation, will portray the importance of connecting academic theory and the professional market through a number of very successful work placements undertaken by UCL Qatar postgraduate students. The set of data, belongs to a time period of 4 years (2013-2017) and is a result of qualitative and quantitative feedback received by UCL Qatar's postgraduate students, while assessing and evaluating the experience they had while conducting their work placements. The students note the importance and contribution that these placements had in them better accumulating knowledge, meeting professionals from their respective fields and a number of them eventually receiving employment offers, which is a direct portrayal of a successful effort. More specifically, these placement took place in more than 20 countries around the world, including Qatar, the number of students is close to 200 students and the institutions or organisations they have attended so as to conduct their placements range from local hosts such as a number of museums under Qatar Museums (Museum of Islamic Art, National Museum of Qatar, Mathaf – Arab Museum of Modern Art, the Firestation) as well as internationally renowned institutions like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York, the British Museum, NASA's materials science lab, Christie's Auction House London, the Library of Yale University, Oxford Archaeology East and many more. Furthermore, this poster presentation aims to portray how the work placements present the opportunity for students to enhance their research skills through mainly two routes. The first relates with connecting the placement with applying field research for their masters dissertations and the second is students participating as interns in research projects conducted by UCL Qatar faculty, with a number of these research projects being funded by the Qatar National Research Fund.

Background In the last two decades, unique demographic changes have occurred in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia. In these countries, population growth was primarily boosted by the influx of young migrants. Therefore, immigration in the GCC countries has led to two consequences: a shift in the population age pyramid and a dramatic increase of the proportion of migrants in the GCC population reaching >80% in Qatar and the UAE. This study evaluated whether massive immigration of young and/or healthy people within a short span of time in the GCC countries, was one of the major causes of the generalized decline in age-standardized mortality rates. Methods For the period 1990-2015, publically available population data were retrieved from the World Population Prospect 2015 Revision by United Nations Population Division; and mortality data were retrieved from Global Burden of Disease 2015 study (GBD 2015). Causes of death utilized in our study were all causes and GBD 2015-defined death causes with the codes: A1-A7, B1-B10, and C1-C3. We estimated annual population growth and annual percent change in all-cause age-standardized and age-specific rates. The association between all-cause age-standardized death rates and population sizes for each of the GCC countries was evaluated using simple linear and polynomial regressions. In Qatar, we also assessed the association between all-cause age-specific death rates and age-specific population sizes; and the association between cause-specific age-standardized death rates and population sizes. The associations were tested using the F-test. Bonferroni method was used to correct the association statistical significance threshold at 0.05 to address multiple testing problem. Hence, the significance threshold was at 0.0016. Multiple R-squared statistics were used to assess the goodness-of-fit of the models. We used R-3.3.1 software for our analyses. Results and discussion In the GCC countries, all-cause age-standardized mortality was inversely proportional to national population size (p-values between 0.0001 and 0.0457) during the period 1990-2015. Taking into account Bonferroni correction, the association between all-cause age-standardized mortality and population size was statistically significant for Bahrain (p-value = 0.0001, R2 = 0.99), Qatar (p-value = 0.0004, R2 = 0.97), and Saudi Arabia (p-value = 0.0004, R2 = 0.99). Remarkably, the effect of differences in population age structures observed over time should not affect mortality trends when using age-standardization method. Hence, this association between age-standardized mortality and population size suggests a strong healthy population effect attributed to migrants, which represent a substantial proportion of the GCC countries' population. In Qatar, annual population growth was below 4% until 2000. Thereafter, during the period 2005-2010, population growth increased rapidly reaching a peak at 22.2%. Then, during the period 2010-2015, the population growth decreased reaching 5.3%. Interestingly, the decrease in all-cause age-standardized mortality was the highest during the period 2005-2010. In Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, when the annual population growth was the highest, the highest annual decrease in all-cause age standardized mortality was also observed. In Qatar, all-cause age-specific mortality was inversely proportional to age-specific population size. In the age groups with the largest population size (5-14 and 15-49 age groups), this association was statistically significant (p-values<0.001). Additionally, in all age groups, when the annual population growth was the highest, the highest annual decrease in all-cause age-specific mortality was also observed. This decrease in mortality cannot be accredited only to enhancement in healthcare system since this has been observed at a gradual pace in the country. However, the large increase in population within a short span after 2000 could explain the decline in mortality rates due to a substantial growth in the population (denominator), while number of deaths (numerator) remained minimally affected. Therefore, one of the main drivers of declined mortality appears to be population growth due to immigration of young and/or healthy individuals. Similarly, cause-specific age-standardized mortality was inversely proportional to population size. This association was statistically significant for about 50% of the GBD 2015-defined causes of death such as “cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases” (B4, p-value<0.001, R2 = 0.97) and “HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis” (A1, p-value<0.01, R2 = 0.94). Remarkably, incoming migrants to Qatar have to be negative for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis. Our findings demonstrate a strong healthy migrant effect that influences mortality rates in the population of the GCC countries. The limitation in our analysis was that GBD 2015 and UN data do not provide data by sub-populations (short-term resident versus Qataris and long-term residents). As such, we were not able to compare mortality in the total population with mortality in the subpopulations to further demonstrate our hypothesis of healthy migrant effect. Yet, mortality decrease in the GCC countries' total population (nationals and short-term and long-term residents) should not be considered as a positive indicator for population health status. In order to elucidate changes in mortality trends due to health-based interventions and improvement in the healthcare system, stratification—nationals and long-term residents versus short-term residents should be considered. Conclusion In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that the increase in GCC countries' population over the last two decades have decreased mortality rates. Healthy migrant effect appears to influence these mortality trends. Mortality rates might have varied if the current migration strategy in the GCC countries were different. In general, researchers and policymakers in the GCC countries should be cautious to not exclusively attribute this decrease in mortality rates to the positive effect of health-based interventions or improvement in the healthcare system. Our findings have relevance and significance for developing and monitoring population health programs.

As the field of communication research is further internationalized, communication scholars in non-Western locales have been challenged to apply theories central to our discipline that have grown primarily out of the Western experience. Western cultural tenets of individualism and democracy have been assumed as the norm within many communication theories, and initially, several of these theories were simply accepted and applied “as is” in foreign contexts. Increasingly, however, international scholars and Western scholars working abroad have questioned the presumptions of those theories and how best to apply them in nation-states and regions that don't share the same basic assumptions or a similar cultural context, all to the benefit of more robust theoretical development within the discipline. In this vein, the authors here take a foundational feminist media theory, symbolic annihilation, and apply it to a non-Western nation-state—Qatar. In doing so, we draw much in our approach from Mohanty's seminal “Under Western Eyes” (1984), not only avoiding the homogenization of a non-Western population through a Western lens, but also exploring the relationship between the discursive representation of the Qatari woman (in this case, in the news media), and the material reality, or lived experience, of the Qatari woman. Further, Mohanty's point that feminist scholarship should focus on “the material and ideological specificities” (p. 338) that render women's place in a particular set of power relations, rather than rack up a series of examples that make the ‘universal woman’ powerless, is well taken. Heeding these points, we take a bottom-up approach to our analysis, stressing these material and ideological specificities over sweeping statements and generalizations. Qatar is home to a female citizenry increasingly empowered to pursue higher education, employment outside the home, and wider freedom of movement. That said, many Qatari women face a unique cultural taboo that prevents them from appearing in public visual media, such as television news reports, online videos, or photographs printed in magazines or newspapers. This, we argue, limits Qatari women's equality in local media. However, our analysis carefully considers how this cultural practice must be understood within Qatari women's specific historic and cultural context. In doing so, we present a rich and nuanced analysis of the limitations this cultural practice presents to Qatari women, but also other methods by which Qatari women subvert it. Certainly, the cultural taboo against visual representations of women appearing in the media is contested among Qatari women, and as some have argued, is more rigorously defended by upper-class members of society (see Foley, 2010), though certainly not by all. Sheikha Moza, the former royal first lady of Qatar and still a very prominent figure in public life, as well as her daughters Sheikha Hind and Sheikha Mayassa, also prominent public figures, are depicted widely in the Qatari press. Yet some Qatari women don't mind the taboo at all and maintain that their photographs don't need to be included in the news, that name recognition is sufficient (Paschyn, 2013). Just because a society's cultural values deem it important for women to remain unseen in public life, however, doesn't mean that the state or society doesn't want them to be economically productive members of the workforce. We know in Qatar that the state itself is encouraging women's empowerment, education, and participation in the workforce as a significant piece of its National Vision 2030 (General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2008), including increasing “opportunities and vocational support for Qatari women” (p. 10) and enhancing women's capacities and empowering them “to participate fully in the polical and economic spheres, especially in decision-making roles” (p. 12). The vision also asserts that “women will assume a significant role in all spheres of life, especially through participating in economic and political decision-making” (p. 11). So in that sense, a fundamental assumption of the theory of symbolic annihilation—that women should be seen as productive members of the workforce—has been met in the case of Qatar. As we know, numbers of younger Qatari women in the workforce are increasing, even as the taboo to depict women in media remains. We also know that women are visible in majaalis, and that is an important forum for women's public life. But majaalis are single-gender affairs, so while young women and girls may be able to find role models and examples of older women seeking and enjoying educational and career pursuits, those examples remain invisible to the other, more powerful half of Qatari society—men. Symbolic annihilation theorized the relationship between the discursive representation of women and their material reality as mutually constitutive, but our deeply contextualized analysis reveals a more nuanced reality. Qatari women are, by and large, not represented visually in the local news media, yet they do participate in increasing numbers in the workforce. In this context, however, there is no expectation that Qatari women would be visually represented in the media due to the cultural taboo against it, so their absence is not constitutive of the material reality as it would be in a society that carried an expectation of equal representation of genders in the media. Foley, S. (2010). The Arab Gulf states: Beyond oil and Islam. London: Lynne Renner Publishers. General Secretariat for Development Planning (2008). Qatar national vision 2030. Doha, Qatar: General Secretariat for Development. Mohanty, C (1984). Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses. boundary 2, 12(3), 333-354. Paschyn, C. (2013, December 17). Qatar's invisible women. Chime for Change. Retrieved from http://www.chimeforchange.org/story/qatars-invisible-women/ on February 15, 2016.