JEDDAH, 2 November 2003 — The upcoming GCC summit in Kuwait will for the first time set up a women’s committee to address issues concerning family, maternity and children in the six Gulf states, according to GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Atiyya.
“The women’s committee was proposed by the GCC consultative council after the last summit in Doha directed the advisory body to work out a mechanism to strengthen the role of women... and the Kuwait summit will endorse the proposal,” he said.
Al-Atiyya said the new women’s committee would play an effective role in the labor market as well as in many other matters. He said Gulf women were already supporting the GCC through their participation in various supplementary panels.
“Gulf women will play a greater role in development in the coming years,” Al-Watan Arabic daily quoted the GCC chief as saying. “They have already proved their ability to provide active and effective participation.”
Al-Atiyya said he was optimistic about the next GCC summit in Kuwait by the end of next month. “It will be a summit of resolutions,” he said.
