Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KUWAIT592
2007-04-23 04:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:
FREEDOM AGENDA: ACTIVISTS UNSATISFIED WITH
how-toVZCZCXRO3234 PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR DE RUEHKU #0592 1130459 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 230459Z APR 07 FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8866 INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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).
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
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