Women empowerment is Kuwait's strategic goal

Kuwaiti women empowerment is one of the objectives of Kuwait sustainable development strategy, said Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr. Hind Al-Sebeeh on Monday. "Today we have seen Kuwaiti women serving as doctors and researchers and engineers at various quarters and academies namely Kuwait University," said Al-Sebeeh in a statement to journalists on sidelines of the International Conference on Women Leaders in Science and Technology, which kicked off earlier today at the Arab Organizations headquarters.

The Ministry and General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development support the Kuwaiti women in sciences, where aid is provided to female researchers, she added.

For his part, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr. Mohammad Abdulatif Al-Fares, also speaking on the convention margins, affirmed that Kuwait has made headways on the path for women empowerment at various levels.

Many Kuwaiti female citizens have occupied senior posts and specialized in technology, engineering and innovation. Meanwhile, Dr. Fayza Mohammad Abdulmohsen Al-Kharafi, the conference chair and board member of Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), said in her statement at the event that the conferees would debate women leadership toward social and economic development.

The United Nations, she added, has affirmed that objectives of the sustainable development for 2030 emphasize the need for empowering the woman and putting her on par with man. The convention deliberations focus on hindrances facing the women in various fields, propose solutions and incentives to enable the females make accomplishments, Dr. Al-Kharafi added.

US Ambassador to Kuwait H.E. Lawrence R. Silverman, also addressing the conference, has asserted that the whole world nowadays needs full and effective participation of the women for facing looming challenges.

Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Dr. Celeste M. Rohlfing told the conferees that the United Nations has adopted the issue of women empowerment and gender equality as some of the goals of the sustainable development till 2030. KFAS Director General Dr. Adnan Shihab Eldin said a number of women involved in sciences are partaking in the three-day convention.

Citing a UNESCO's report, he said proportion of female graduates from universities globally reached 53 percent, as compared to 37 percent in Arab countries.