NEW YORK: First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations said Kuwaiti women played a significant role in building a modern state and developing the society. Women have a pivotal role to play in development and offer invaluable contributions to the national efforts to combat coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Fahad Hejji said in an address to the UN Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Issues (Third Committee).
The committee meeting was convened on Friday evening as part of the 76th UN General Assembly session. "We meet at a time when the world is at a crucial juncture of the modern history of humanity. After one and a half years of the health crisis have passed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic which left more than four million people dead and over 200 million other patients," Hejji noted.
"We need to draw lessons from this crunch time, work together to rebuild our world and resume the march towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," he stressed, noting that collective global efforts are needed to reach "this noble target." Over the past year and a half, the youth worldwide contributed a lot to the combat against the pandemic. In the State of Kuwait youth have been in the frontline, offering the best example in voluntary action, he pointed out.
The State of Kuwait attaches great importance to the roles of youth and women in the development of the community away from any racial, gender, religious or linguistic discriminations, he said, citing Article 29 of Kuwait constitution. Therefore, Kuwait spared no effort to empower women, ensure their rights, ensure their effective participation in all aspects of daily life, and enable them to assume leading state posts. "We celebrated last year the 15 anniversary of women attaining their political rights for candidacy and voting. More gains are coming year after year in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the passing of legislations for women empowerment," the senior diplomat affirmed.
On the professional level, he said Kuwaiti women enjoy full access to state jobs on equal footing with man, assuming posts in all government institutions including the diplomatic corps, the judiciary, police, firefighting, oil and health sectors, and other vital posts. Entitled to various leading posts, including ministerial and parliamentary ones, Kuwaiti women took part in the political decision-making over long years, he went on.
Hejji reaffirmed Kuwait's commitment to protection of human rights and cultural diversity, based on the relevant international treaties and resolutions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Charter. Concluding, he said it is inevitable for the world at such challenging times to work within a multi-party system with a view to addressing the most pressing issues. - KUNA