Women's rights remain a challenge to Kuwait's goals

The major challenges facing Kuwait's Millennium Development Goals (MDG) are universal primary education, ensuring environmental stability and most of all the elimination of gender disparity and the empowerment of women, according to the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kuwait.

At a press conference with Dr. Hamad Munawer of the Ministry of Planning, the chief architect of the Millennium development goals report, Paolo Lembo said, "The ground is fertile for the participation of Kuwaiti women in politics".

Kuwait is yet to grant women the right to vote or to run for parliament even though the constitution says that men and women are equal under the law.

The report states, "Although Kuwait is fortunate in adopting a democratic governance regime based on a modern constitution historical and cultural factors are preventing women from being enfranchised with electoral rights.

"Both the dynamics of the democratic practices in the country and the active political struggle by women in society indicate that this "political deficit" is likely to be corrected before 2015. Thus while there are no guarantees that there will be an effective share of the women in the National Assembly, the road would at least be paved for future full participation of women in the political process", the report added.

Kuwait is classified as a developing country and is expected to report on progress in realising its goals. Lembo lauded Kuwait's policies that have helped achieve many of its goals.

The writer is a Kuwait-based journalist