UN team lauds Kuwaiti women’s rights accomplishments
A UN team lauded yesterday the accomplishments of the State of Kuwait within the domain of women’s rights, saying that the Gulf State had taken strong leaps in empowering women and enabling them to take leading roles in society. The UN team, which concluded a nine-day visit to Kuwait last Thursday, said in a report that Kuwaiti women were ‘highly professional,’ adding that they have been strongly contributing to the development of their society.
The team, which was headed by Vice President of UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women Kamala Chandrakirana, affirmed that the Kuwaiti constitution secured the rights of women, revealing that for decades, women were contributing to social, economic, and cultural progression in the GCC country.
“Kuwaiti women won their parliamentary rights in 2005, which was an important accomplishment that led to several legislative reforms,” said the team’s report, adding that the approval of the 2015 domestic workers law helped to protect the rights of some 60,000 helpers who are mostly women.
Other reforms within the constitutional level have also helped elevate the status of women in Kuwait in general, said the team, noting that were some new laws protecting women rights in the country which were highly progressive on a regional level. The team was impressed by the inclusion of women in the security apparatus of Kuwait, revealing that there around 358 policewomen within the ranks of the Interior Ministry.
The increase of women in the working force, by 56.5 and 51 percent in the public and private sectors respectively, was also an indication that women empowerment in Kuwait was heading in the right direction, said the report which also commended Kuwait’s keenness on decreasing illiteracy especially among women. The team concluded their report by wishing Kuwait evermore progress within the fields of women’s rights and empowerment, saying that what have been witnessed in Kuwait in these regards, puts the Gulf country on the right track.