KUWAIT: Kuwait yesterday urged the UN to carry on with its support on countries' efforts to counter trafficking of women and girls. This is likely to secure positive results, said Kuwait's statement to the 71st UN General Assembly's 3rd Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee. Delivering the statement, economic researcher Hayam Khalid Al-Fassam added that achieving development in a society relies on equality between men and women, as partners.

Kuwait's Constitution provides that all people are "peers in human dignity and have, in the eyes of the Law, equal public rights and obligations," Al-Fassam stated. She also added that in line with recommendations of the UN Secretary General, Kuwait has made a multitude of arrangements to promote women's status and to reserve their rights.

Al-Fassam cited Kuwaiti legislations that guarantee the right to equal wages between men and women in both the public and the private sector. In addition, women have also been recruited to military and judiciary posts. Moreover, Kuwait's 2019-2020 development plan comprises goals on empowering women and boosting their capabilities, through reviewing relevant legislations by a joint panel, she told the UN meeting. Kuwait is also encouraging education for women, she said, noting that girls constitute 52 percent and 66 percent of students in education and higher education respectively.

She also highlighted the amount of attention paid to Kuwaiti women's health. Kuwait is a signatory of a host of agreements and protocols on women: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which is related to trafficking of persons, particularly women and children. - KUNA