The Kuwaiti National Assembly''s Parliamentary Committee for Women''s Affairs on Monday approved a number of amendments to the civil and social rights of women, especially those on women''s service in the government sector.
The committee has suggested that employed women should be granted social and children''s allowances if their spouses are not receiving such allowances from the State, the committee''s Chairwoman MP Masouma AlـMubarak told reporters after the meeting.
"The current law treats women as single entities, hence they were being deprived from receiving any allowances and this was the reason behind the amendments," she noted.
"The committee also approved a proposal that obliges the government institutions to implement the principle of equal opportunity between men and women when it comes to assuming higher authoritative positions," AlـMubarak added. "Another proposal that was approved was granting women employees a fullyـpaid 70ـday maternity leave, on condition that the delivery of the child must be within this period," she said.
In another development, MP Askar AlـEnezi proposed the amendment of Article 11 of Law 28 of 2008 regarding the establishment of a fund meant to address the situation of citizens who have failed to settle their consumer loans and payment of installments with local banks and investment companies.
The lawmaker suggested that the fund''s beneficiaries should be granted new loans and credit facilities before they fully settle all the loans owed to the fund in case their monthly installments go down by 40 percent, in accordance with the set regulations.
In the explanatory memo, the lawmaker explained that allowing the defaulters to retain half their salaries is central to the said law in order to ensure they have a decent living. He went on to say that the proposal seeks to allow defaulters to secure new loans to meet their necessary financial commitments

Alwatan Daily