Kuwait backs efforts to implement ICESCR locally, internationally

The State of Kuwait affirmed on Tuesday commitment to the implementation and promotion of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and all human rights agreements. Ambassador Khaled Al-Maghames, director of the coordination and follow-up division of the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry, said his country contributed effectively to the enhancement of human rights on the domestic and international scales through robust support to the concerned organizations. He made the statements while presenting Kuwait's second regular report on the implementation of the ICESCR to the 51st Session of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah raised several initiatives that contributed to the launching of development funds geared to improve the living standards of peoples; these include the Decent Life Fund to which Kuwait donated USD 100 million, Ambassador Al-Meghames pointed out. In this connection Kuwait hosted the high-level International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria in January, 2013, and contributed USD 300 million to the relief effort for the Syrian displaced by the conflict; it also plans to host another conference in next January in addition to its annual contribution to the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), he stated. "Out of firm commitment to the protection of human rights, Kuwait finalized the development of a draft law on the launching of a diwan on human rights and the relevant constitutional and legal procedures," he noted. "On August 22, 2013, Kuwait joined the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a move that materializes the country's pledges to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). "Kuwait's respect for human rights stems from profound belief in these rights and in their positive impacts on the welfare of individuals and the community at large," Ambassador Al-Meghames went on. "This belief is based on the country's identity and its Arab and Islamic values that esteem human dignity was enshrined in the constitution of 1962," he said, citing the provisions of chapters two and three of the constitution. He recalled that the brutal invasion of Kuwait by the former Iraqi regime in 1990 had catastrophic impacts on the Kuwaitis' march towards enjoyment of full economic, social and cultural rights. Despite the ensuing challenges in the aftermath of the invasion, Kuwait was able to forge ahead with the efforts to enhance human rights and joined the ICESCR pursuant to Act No. 11 for 1996. The State of Kuwait is fully convinced that employment is one of the basic ways for improving the economic rights. Therefore, the country works to regulate the labor market in a way that protects the rights of workers whether in the public or private sector or housekeeping, he added, citing Act No 40 for 1992, Act No. 6 for 2010 and Act No. 109 for 2013. The 51st Session of the CESCR is being held here between November 4 and 28. Beside Ambassador Al-Meghames, Kuwait's delegation to the session includes representatives of the ministries of social affairs and labor, interior, education, and justice, as well as representatives of the central agency for illegal residents and the Women's Affairs Committee