KUWAIT: Head of the Kuwaiti Union of Women’s Associations (KUWA) Sheikha Fadia Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah announced that the union will hold Tuesday a seminar in cooperation with the Geneva Institute for Human Rights and the United Nations on violence against women and girls in the Middle East and North Africa.

The conference will discuss the causes and consequences of the phenomenon in the presence of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Al-Salem.

The seminar will witness the presence of representatives of non-governmental organizations working in the field of violence against women and girls, the resident representative of the United Nations Development Program in Kuwait, Hideko Hadzialic, the regional office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Population Fund, and its activities will continue for three days.

“The workshop addresses experiences from various countries and the main challenges and obstacles facing women in the Middle East and North Africa region. It will also come up with recommendations which are expected to contribute to the global efforts of the United Nations in promoting and protecting the human rights of women and girls,” Sheikha Fadia said on Monday.

She noted that the seminar will discuss three items that correspond to the main challenges faced by women who are subjected to violence, including an analysis of the root causes of violence against women in the Middle East and North Africa region and possible ways to address them.

The seminar also aims to provide participants with the necessary knowledge to involve them in monitoring the implementation of women’s rights in national public policies and to submit the preliminary findings and recommendations of the future reports of the United Nations rapporteurs on violence against women and girls to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council. Sheikha Fadia pointed out that Arab women must ensure the protection of their rights and maintaining equality between the genders in accordance with our tolerant Islamic law, especially in those transitional periods that the Arab countries are witnessing.

She expected to come up with practical recommendations on the role of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls in the Middle East and North Africa in supporting the fight against violence against women and girls. The recommendations will also provide a roadmap for the United Nations, the United Nations Population Fund and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

At the end of the consultation, recommendations will be submitted to the government that they can use when legislating regulations and laws pertaining to issues related to women.

The seminar coincides with the celebrations of the Kuwaiti Federation of Women’s Associations on Kuwaiti Women’s Day, which falls on May 16 of each year, said Shaikha Fadia, recalling the role of the honorary president of the Union, Sheikha Latifa Al-Fahad Al-Salem Al-Sabah, who worked to lay the foundations of this annual celebration.  —KUNA