FREEDOM AGENDA: ACTIVISTS UNSATISFIED WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000592 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KWMN KU SUBJECT: FREEDOM AGENDA: ACTIVISTS UNSATISFIED WITH PARLIAMENT'S WOMEN CONFERENCE REF: A. KUWAIT 489 ¶B. KUWAIT 174 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C/NF) Summary: The National Assembly's Women's Affairs Committee sponsored a conference on women's issues on April ¶21. The conference tackled some of the key challenges facing women, but activists criticized it as superficial and lashed out at the lack of interest by parliamentarians. The Chair of the Women's Affairs Committee responded that it was a positive first step. He said much of the criticism was unwarranted and that the women's movement's inability to work together was an impediment to the conference's success. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The National Assembly's Women's Affairs Committee sponsored a conference entitled "The Kuwaiti Woman in National Legislation" on April 21 (ref B). Parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi noted in his keynote speech how far women still lag behind men politically despite having won their political rights in 2005. Women's Committee Chairman Salah Ashour echoed similar themes, though he noted that the number of non-governmental women's groups has increase significantly since the original (failed) attempt by the Amir to give women their rights in 1999 and even more since they actually won political rights six years later. The conference included four sessions on issues including housing, social insurance, personal status law, and increasing women's involvement in politics, and came up with several recommendations about ending inequalities between men and women in various state welfare benefits and in personal status matters such as the right to marry without permission from a guardian. ¶3. (C/NF) Women activists were pleased that the parliament held a conference on women's issues at all. However, they criticized the conference overall. Dr. Rola Dashti repeated the criticism that parliament is proposing laws that look attractive to women on the surface but actually aim to keep them in the home (ref A). Activists such as former candidate Laila Al-Rashed publicly complained that the only MPs who actually showed up were those on the women's committee, plus liberal Ali Al-Rashed, and that those who came only stayed for the opening speeches. Former candidate Aisha Al-Reshaid, a vocal activist who has recently started an informal group called "Toward Better Parliamentary Performance," told PolOff that it was a serious insult that men had been elected to office with women's votes but then could not even stay to hear the real issues. Al-Reshaid also criticized the Government for not attending; the only minister to attend was the Salafi Communications/National Assembly Affairs Minister. Al-Reshaid added that the parliament's lack of interest in women's issue was clear from her discussions with Women's Committee Chair Ashour, who told her that MPs had wanted to steer the conference in ways that would benefit their own interests. ¶4. (C/NF) Women's Committee Chair Ashour defended the conference in an April 22 conversation with POL Specialist, noting that the conference was the first of its kind in Kuwait. The purpose, he said, was to highlight the issues in order to start a national dialogue, rather than to cover each issue in depth. The MPs' failure to attend was not an insult. MPs rarely attend policy events, focusing instead on constituent services. Ashour said infighting between various women's groups hurt attendance and the effectiveness of the conference. He also noted that the committee would propose implementation of the conference recommendations in parliament soon. He said he hoped to convene a GCC-wide women's conference next year. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embssy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LeBaron