KUWAIT CITY, Nov 25: Representative of the UN General Secretary, Resident Coordinator to Kuwait Dr Tareq El-Sheikh affirmed, Wednesday, that Kuwait has achieved a significant progress in combating violence and discrimination against women.

This statement came on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the launch of the 16-day campaign entitled “United for Women”. In a press statement, El- Sheikh mentioned the new law approved by Kuwaiti National Assembly on Aug 19 for the protection of women from domestic violence, which came into effect on Sept 20, 2020.

The new law allowed the establishment of a national committee of representatives from ministries and civil community organizations to issue policies to defend women from domestic violence, he added. “We, at the United Nations, appreciate this progress in Kuwait that will guarantee the suitable legal, medical and psychological services for women and girls, and monitoring complaints to protect the documented and undocumented acts of violence against women,” he added.

He praised the cooperation between the Kuwaiti Government and the United Nations to conduct researches and collect data all forms of genderbased violence, including domestic violence, statistics on complaints, prosecutions and judgments.

Guarantee
On his part, Head of the European Union missions to Kuwait and Qatar Ambassador Cristian Tudor stressed that the European Union is “committed to continue work with our international partners to solve the deep causes for violence against women and girls and guarantee of legal supporting of victims.

“Equality between men and women and the empowerment of women is an important part of the European Union’s foreign policy, we support Kuwait in its efforts to encourage the political participation of woman and the advancement of gender equality,” Tudor noted. In the same context, Regional Director of UN Population Fund in the Arab Region Dr Luay Shabaneh stated, “It is time to stand firm and work to fulfill the promise and ensure zero tolerance for all forms of gender-based violence.”

“We at the Fund, pledge to continue our efforts to prevent and respond to millions of women and girls in our region who are victims of domestic violence”. Meanwhile, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Hideko Hadzialic, stated that the Protection against Domestic Violence Act for the year 2020 is a major milestone for the State of Kuwait. UNDP is working closely with government agencies and the Center for Women’s Studies and Research of Kuwait University to design training to support law enforcement, she said.

In turn, the UN Regional Director for Women’s Affairs Susanne Mikhail, expressed UN’s pride in partnering with the other UN and Kuwaiti local organizations to achieve its national development goals in accordance with the Kuwait National Vision 2035. The international campaign (16 days of struggle against gender-based violence) is held annually since 2008, it begins on Nov 25 and ends on Dec 10. , (KUNA)