Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Kuwait (Ratification: 1966)

1. Equality between men and women. Legislative developments. The Committee notes with interest the recent political and legal reforms in the country, including the amendment of the Electoral Law giving, for the first time, Kuwaiti women the right to vote and stand for public office. In the Committee’s view, the amendment is an important step in the pursuit of equality between men and women in society, and creates a new environment which should be conducive to more rapid progress towards equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women in employment and occupation.

2. Access of men and women to particular occupations, including posts in the judiciary. For a number of years, the Committee has commented on the under-representation or absence of women in the judiciary, in particular to posts as judges. It had noted the Government’s repeated explanations that women participate in judicial work as assistants or colleagues of judges or prosecutors and that there were no written texts forbidding the access of women to these posts; it was rather the weight of custom and tradition that did not encourage women to seek such posts. In this regard, the Committee had drawn the attention of the Government to the special responsibility of the State concerning the effective pursuit of a policy of equality of opportunity and treatment in respect to employment under its control, and had encouraged the Government to examine the issue of restrictions in practice to women’s access to posts as judges. The Committee regrets to note that the Government continues to maintain that there are no legal obstacles impeding women to access posts as judges, while at the same time, the Government, in its report under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), indicates that women can only be employed in the Department of Public Investigations and are not allowed to work in the Administration of Justice Division and the Department of Public Prosecutions "for a variety of reasons" (CEDAW/C/KWT/1-2, 1 May 2003, page 25). The Committee asks the Government to indicate the reasons for these restrictions on women’s employment in the Administration of Justice and the Department of Public Prosecutors, and urges it to examine the manner in which it can remove the practical restrictions to access of women to posts as judges who sit in court, to promote women’s access to judicial careers in general and to indicate the results achieved in its next report.

3. Discrimination on the basis of race and national extraction. Concerning the manner in which protection is afforded in law or in practice against discrimination on the basis of race and national extraction in conformity with the Convention, the Committee notes that the Government continues to repeat its statements that no discrimination on the basis of race exists in Kuwait. The Government further indicates that it will keep the Committee informed of the progress made in the adoption of the legislative proposals to include two sections concerning racial discrimination in the Penal Code. Having in mind the diverse labour force in Kuwait, including the high number of foreign workers from different ethnic and racial backgrounds; recalling also its previous comments regarding the need for the effective protection of migrant domestic workers, many of whom are women, against discriminatory treatment, the Committee is concerned over repeated statements by the Government that no racial discrimination exists in the country without providing full details on the employment situation of this highly diverse labour force. It is also concerned about the apparent lack of Government commitment to adopt measures to ensure that no person, including foreign workers, is subjected to discrimination and unequal treatment on the basis of race or national extraction. The Committee trusts that the next Government’s report will contain full information on the specific action taken or envisaged to prevent discrimination against all workers on the basis of race, colour and national extraction in regard to employment and occupation, including measures to foster public understanding and acceptance of the principles of non-discrimination and equality.

4. National policy on equality. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention, which require the Government to declare and implement a national policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation with a view to eliminating any discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin. It recalls that the effective application of such a policy requires the implementation of specific measures and programmes to promote genuine equality in law as well as in practice, and correct de facto inequalities which may exist in training, employment and conditions of work. The Committee hopes that the Government’s next report will be able to show progress in the development and application of a national policy, and asks to be kept informed in this regard, in particular of the results achieved of any specific measures and programmes undertaken.

The Committee is raising other and related points in a request addressed directly to the Government.