KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: The Kuwaiti Constitu-tion grants equal rights to men and women and several laws have been enacted to protect their interests, reports Al-Rai daily quoting MP Salwa Al-Jassar.
Al-Jassar made the assertion in the national forum on the priorities and mechanism for addressing women’s issues, which concluded Tuesday. The forum was held under the patronage of Social Affairs and Labor Minister Dr Mohammad Al-Afasi.

Refuting allegations that the female lawmakers are working against women, Al-Jassar confirmed the Women Affairs Committee in the Parliament worked on more than 23 draft bills in favor of women last year.

Meanwhile, Assistant Undersecretary for Labor Affairs Mansour Al-Mansour explained many social issues were discussed in the forum, particularly those that concern women who constitute half of the Kuwaiti society.

Commenting on the same issue, Social Development Department Manager Sheikha Al-Odwani disclosed the agenda of the forum included discrimination against women, laws and decisions on the percentage of women accepted in colleges and ministries, and the Credit and Savings Bank (CSB) Law.
Al-Odwani confirmed they requested the amendment of some laws to allow women to join the judiciary, incriminate sexual harassment, and establish shelters for abused women.

They also stressed the need to enact a law for the protection of women from immoral websites, in addition to enabling women to occupy leadership posts and participate in the decision-making process.
Moreover, MP Dr Maasouma Al-Mubarak expressed her happiness over her participation in the forum, which provided an avenue for a thorough discussion of women’s issues.

She, however, lamented the exclusion of these issues from the priority list that the government has forwarded to the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee in the Parliament on Monday approved the KD 50 increment for all Kuwaiti workers in the government sector, reports Al-Anba quoting Committee Chairman MP Yousef Al-Zalzalah.

Speaking to reporters after the panel meeting, Al-Zalzalah said those who were not covered by an earlier decision to increase the salaries of Kuwaiti government sector workers, who receive less than KD 1,000 monthly, will also benefit from the proposal.

Al-Zalzalah also confirmed the approval of the proposal to increase the periodic allowance of retirees from KD20 to KD30, which they will receive every three years.

In another development, Alam Al-Yawm daily has reported that Al-Zalzalah emphasized the need to establish an investment and development bank to finance the implementation of the development plan.
Al-Zalzalah suggested the bank should be under the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) and the direct supervision of Deputy Premier for Economic Affairs and State Minister for Housing and Development Affairs Sheikh Ahmad Fahd Al-Sabah.

He explained the bank will finance the development projects and monitor the implementation, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance.

Moreover, Committee Rapporteur MP Abdulrahman Al-Anjari affirmed the panel has discussed the draft bills on combating money laundering and financing terrorist activities.

He said the committee approved the anti-money laundering bill, while the other proposal will be referred back to the government because some of the articles are against the Constitution.

On the other hand, MP Rola Dashti presented a proposal on amending Article 15 of the 1960 Shareholding Companies Law to prevent the founders from touching their shares until two years after the establishment of any shareholding company.