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ModelUNPositionPaperKuwait
By:BassilObeidi

Committee
:Social,Humanitarian&Cultural(SOCHUM)
Country
:Kuwait

TopicOne:
Severeinjusticeandviolencetowardswomen

Sincethebeginningofthetwentiethcentury,thelegalstatusofwomenhasbeen
undergoingchangewithintheMiddleEast.Withthischangeofstatuscomesanuncertainty
towardshowwomenshouldactandbetreated.Thereareseveralsetsoflawsthatfurtherspread
thisuncertaintysuchascustomarylaws,traditionalIslamiclaws,reformedIslamiclawsand
importedlaws.Manyoftheselawsdeemvariedinjusticeandviolencetowardswomenasright
despitebeinghumanrightsviolation.Theselawsbecomedeeplyembeddedintotraditionand
culturethroughhundredsofyearsofacceptance.However,theselawsandcustomsareathreat
towardswomensrightsandsafety,andareinsomecasesunquestionablywrong.Asanation
committedtofurtheringtheobjectivesoftheKuwaiticonstitutionof1962thataffirmallhuman
rightsprinciplesfoundinbothIslamicandinternationallaws,Kuwaitisdeterminedtoworkwith
theUnitedNationstofindfamiliarandtrustedsolutions,aswellasexploringanyalternatives.

AsstatedinarticleeightoftheKuwaiticonstitutionof1962,[Kuwait]shallpreservethe
pillarsofsocietyandshallguaranteesecurity,tranquillityandequalopportunitytoallcitizens.
However,articletwooftheKuwaiticonstitutionmakesclearthatThereligionoftheStateis
Islam,andtheIslamicShariashallbeamainsourceoflegislation.Assuchabalancemustbe
foundbetweenbotharticlesandtheirdescribetreatmenttowardswomeninnotonlyKuwait,but
inallcountrieswhosesourceoflegislationisSharia.

ThoughquiteafewscholarsviewtheSurahAnNisa,34passageoninteractionbetween
husbandandwifeasencouragingdomesticabuse,Kuwaitbelievesthatmoremodern
perspectivesofthispassageofQur'anarenotinagreementofthisview.Kuwaitbelievesthat
Surah4:34mustbeshouldbetakeninsequenceofadmonishment,separation,andifbothfail
thenthehusbandmayhitorgivealighttaptotheirwife.Kuwaitbelievesthatallislamic
countriesshouldadoptthisviewtowardsthetreatmentofwomeninShariaPhysicalmeasures
shouldonlybeemployedonwomenwhenallnonphysicalmethodshavefailed.

Injusticeandviolencetowardswomendoesnotonlyconsistofabuse.Anotherissueis
thatcivilandpoliticallawscanbeunfairtowardswomen.Therighttovote,toworkandoffree
speechareallcrucialrightsthatwomenmusthavenotonlyinKuwaitbutglobally.Kuwaithas
madegreatstridestowardswomensrightsandjusticeandthesestridesareseenintheGlobal
GenderGapReportrankingKuwaitfirstamongArabcountries.

Addressingtherightforwomentowork,Kuwaithasanimpressive53percentlaborforce
participationrateforKuwaitiwomen.Thisrateisnotonlyhigherthanthe51percentworld
average,butalsomuchhigherthantheMENA(MiddleEastandNorthAfricaregion)averageof
21percent.Thus,asaclearleaderofrateofwomenintheworkplace,Kuwaitadvocates

regionallyadoptionofpoliciestoencouragemorewomentoentertheworkplace.Programssuch
asjobtraining,jobsearchsupportservicesandencouragementofdiversityintheworkplaceare
allpossiblesolutionstothelowpercentofwomenintheworkplace.
Kuwaitiwomenvotingandobtainingpositionsinthegovernmentwaspossibleduetothe
heavycampaigningofwomenfortherighttovotewhichincludedlargeprotestsandmultiple
courtcasesagainsttheMinisterofInterior.TheeffortsofwomeninKuwaitiwomenpaidofand
inMay2005theygainedtherighttovoteandsoonafterfourwereelectedintoparliament.
Kuwaitencouragescountriesthatdonotallowthevotesofwomentoreviewtheirlawsinthe
lightofmoremodernbeliefsandconsiderboththepositivesandnegativesbeforemakinga
decisionontheselaws.

AsamemberoftheUnitedNations,Kuwaitisverywillingtoworkwithothercountries
toresolveglobalinjusticeandviolencetowardswomen.Asseeninthelargesocialreform,
Kuwaitisprogressivetowardsresolutionstosuchissuesandiswillingtobealeaderwithinthe
MiddleEastforfurtherresolutionandresolve.

TopicTwo:CorruptionandDevelopment:Creatingstandardstoeliminatemisuseof
foreignaidindevelopingcountries

Kuwaitisaningraineddonorwithaforeignaidaidcontributionrateof2.1%ofitsGDP.
Withsuchahighdonationrate,doubletheUNOfficialDevelopmentAssistancecommitment
targetof0.7%,Kuwaitisdeterminedtoensurethataidworldwideisnotmisused.This
determinationcomesfromKuwaitsheavyrelianceondiplomacyaswellasforeignaidto
resolvepoliticalissues.

TheKuwaitFundforArabEconomicDevelopmentwascreatedtoaidArabandother
neweconomieswithmonetaryneeds.Since1961thefundhaslenttotalof$18.5billionto104
countries.Assuch,itiswithinKuwaitsgreatestintereststoprotectandensuretheproperusage
ofthenotonlyaidgivenbyKuwait,butallinternationalaid.

ToeliminatemisuseofforeignaidindevelopingCountriesKuwaitsuggests
implementationofthreestepsthatshouldbetakenbeforeaidisgiven.First,arigorousvetting
processtoensureacountryhasnotmisusedaidinthepast.Second,maintainofclearideaof
whowillbehandlingtheaid,ensurenoprivatecompaniesgainaccesstotheaid.Third,develop
awayfortheaidmoneytobedirectlytrackedsuchasthroughelectronicGPSchipsormarked
bills.Withallthreeimplementedthelikelihoodofaidbeingmisusedwilllowergreatly.

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