WUNRN
"Kuwait
National Assembly member Dr. Maasouma Al-Mubarak stressed that until women were
fully represented in local, national and international decision making bodies,
their issues would not be priorities and the necessary resources would not be
allocated."
Kuwait
- Women's Historical Role in Liberation of Kuwait from Occupation
&
Modern Kuwaiti Women's Emerging Political Leadership & Gender
Advocacy
Kuwait Times - 30 September, 2009
KUWAIT
- National Assembly member Dr. Maasouma Al-Mubarak recently said that during
the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the subsequent liberation, Kuwaiti
women played a major role in liberating their country. Addressing the
International Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference in Geneva, she stressed that
Kuwaiti women put up a remarkable resistance against occupation and struggled
on every front for the safety of their country.
It is a fact that no society can prosper when women do not contribute to its
progress. It is a fact also that we hold only a very small percentage of public
offices. Very few women are involved in politics and even fewer run for elected
offices," Dr. Al-Mubarak said.
In her speech, "The Role of Women: Expectations and Challenges,"
Al-Mubarak said that the Kuwait Constitution does not discriminate between
women and men with respect to their citizenship rights.
Women make up more than 50 percent of the Kuwaiti population. They compose 24.5
percent of the country's total workforce and more than 40 percent of the
Kuwaiti workforce. About 70 percent of students at the university level are
female, and more than 85 percent of honor graduates are women," she said.
She added that Kuwaiti women hold prominent positions.
However, Dr Al-Mubarak said that one of the first obstacles faced as one of the
first female MPs was in running for elections. "Another experience was in
the election of the Parliamentary Committee for Women's Affairs. All four
female MPs won, in addition to three male MPs," she said.
She explained that historically, this committee was not on parliament's radar
and that "it only succeeded in becoming so after the granting of women's
political rights in May 2005, when female voters became an attractive asset to
those running for elections.
One of the first decisions we made after being elected into the Committee was
to suggest an amendment to the bylaws of the parliament to include this
committee among the roster of permanent parliamentary committees, thus cementing
its importance to the nation," said Al-Mubarak.
Al-Mubarak explained that the committee is currently studying two proposals for
social and civil women's rights and several proposals to amend discriminatory
articles in several laws such as: the Public Housing Law, the Civil Service
Law, the Passport Law, the Labor Law, the Social Security Law, and the
Immigration Law which affects the stability of families comprised of Kuwaiti
wives married to non-Kuwaiti husbands.
She added that the Committee also succeeded in putting women's issues on the
priority list of the Parliament which is comprised of 23 priorities for the
upcoming session starting on Oct 27, 2009.
Kuwait's five-year plan has allocated an entire program to support and develop
the role of women in society and to incorporate them in the workforce by
training 19,416 women during the current plan," said Dr. Al-Mubarak.
She stressed that until women were fully represented in local, national and
international decision making bodies, their issues would not be priorities and
the necessary resources would not be allocated.
What will it take for women in Kuwait not just to go to the polls, but to run
for office and lead their nation? Growing women's leadership takes more than
voting rights. but to mobilize community support for women in governance,"
she noted. Al-Mubarak added that women must seek leadership at the highest
institutional levels and appointments to both national and international
bodies.
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