By Majd Othman

KUWAIT: The Women's Cultural and Social Society held on Wednesday the second meeting of the Girl's Club, under the title of 'A leader, Empowered and Able to Achieve', in the presence of the counsellor, life coach and society member Reem Al-Eidan, Secretary of Kuwait Transparency Society Asrar Hayat, and Surgeon Lulwa Al-Qaoud.

The meeting's main objective was to raise awareness on the importance of women's role in society and to educate them to be effective members of the community, Hayat told Kuwait Times. She added that the main issue she discussed in the meeting was to explain the challenges that face women in society and the ways to confront them.

She pointed out that anyone who tries to differentiate between men and women is either a person who lacks awareness, or someone who has certain political agendas, citing what is currently happening in the parliament, and saying that those with prejudiced opinions are considered to be dissonant voices that should not be paid attention to. "The Kuwaiti constitution and the Islamic religion do not differentiate between men and women in terms of rights or duties," she stated.

Hayat stressed the importance of women focusing on achieving their goals and ambitions, and not paying attention to the many obstacles that may stand in front of them as long as their behaviors do not go out of public taste, or do not cause any harm to anyone. She said that women must determine their own future and defend who they want to be someday, because they are the only ones who will live through the challenges that accompany their choices.

"Any change in the world faces resistance," Hayat said. "There are those who resist technology, science and development, and there are those who resist women, while there are those who resist change in general, and not women themselves. Therefore, most men stand by the side of women, while those who stand against them are a small group who do not represent the majority."

She mentioned that the new generation of girls still needs to be educated about the importance of empowering women in society, especially since information has become easily available with the technological development and social media. She called on girls to stay away from being preoccupied with material temptations on social media and to seek a good education that guarantees them a better future.

 

A general view showing part of the audience.

Remarkable confidence

Meanwhile, Eidan told us that during the meeting, the girls' confidence in themselves and their awareness of the importance of empowering women was remarkable. She pointed out that she noticed that the participants have a clear idea about their future goals and an awareness of all political and economic conditions that the world is going through despite their young age.

"This meeting was a track adjustment for the participants' ambitions, and aims to enhance their confidence in their abilities through a dialogue session in which we talked about their rights and duties, as well as empowerment, health and legal awareness," Eidan mentioned. "We made sure to enhance the spirit of citizenship and the importance of their role in the development of the country, as well as confronting corruption through academic empowerment and community participation."

In the meantime, Qaoud talked about her work experience in the medical field and discussed with the participants the challenges she faced as a female surgeon. Qaoud stressed while talking to the participants the importance of being able to deal with the professional pressures they may face in the future, while she told Kuwait Times that the Kuwaiti society has become more open to supporting women's aspirations, calling on girls to insist on achieving all their dreams.