57 percent of civil servants in Kuwait are females

KUWAIT: Kuwait is keen on empowering women for political and economic leadership, a senior official re-asserted yesterday. Citing a tangible case depicting Kuwait's special concern for women, Minister of State for Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel underlined the program for training women leaders, organized by the Secretariat-General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development in collaboration with the Women Studies and Research Center at Kuwait University, along with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. More than 120 women have been trained for leadership within framework of the course, she said, addressing inaugural session of a forum, themed 'women empowerment and supporting youth in development and citizenship.' The seminar is held by the foreign ministry in cooperation with the Secretariat-General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development and the Ban Ki-moon Center for Global Citizens, at Sheikh Jaber Cultural Center.

Minister Aqeel added that the symposium is aimed at boosting citizenship, security and safety, promoting protection of human rights, bolstering sustainable development that constitute bases of Kuwait's development scheme, the 'New Kuwait 2035' vision. These objectives are in harmony with the ones set by Kuwait, namely with respect of protecting human rights and achieving sustainable development, advocated by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Meanwhile, former Austrian president Heinz Fischer recalled his 2009 visit to Kuwait and re-affirmed His Highness the Amir's keenness on supporting international citizenship and the UN center to empowering and supporting women and the youth. He called on states of the globe to treat men and women equally in terms of payments and opportunities to occupy senior posts.

In his address to the forum, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked His Highness the Amir for supporting the UN center, revealing that he was the first UN chief to establish an entity for women empowerment. Khaled Mahdi, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, said 57 percent of the civil servants in Kuwait are females, who also occupy 12 percent of the senior posts. - KUNA