KUWAIT CRISIS SPEECH (UNCWS CRISIS JUNE 26, 2025)
Honourable Chair, Distinguished Delegates,
The delegate of Kuwait is deeply disturbed—not just by the so-called “reforms” targeting Sharia-
compliant nations—but by the blatant weaponization of women's rights as tools of geopolitical
theater.
Let us be clear: women’s empowerment is not the monopoly of Western states. The very nations
now sermonizing about “consent” and “freedom” are themselves embroiled in regressive gender
politics.
The United States, for instance, parades its "Chivalry Hotline"—a hotline that reduces deep-rooted
cultural dynamics to therapy calls. This is not feminism—it’s farce. The same United States that rolled
back Roe v. Wade, restricting a woman’s bodily autonomy in 22 states, now claims to liberate women
abroad?
The United Kingdom offers “Consent Culture” workshops to Sharia judges—as if enlightenment must
come with a British accent and a PowerPoint. This is Orientalism 2.0. Where were these workshops
when British courts failed to prosecute sexual assault cases due to “insufficient evidence” in 80% of
reported instances in 2024?
And China—now championing “non-interference”—has cut funding to women’s rights NGOs in
Nigeria, replacing them with “Silk Road Scholarships” for patriarchs. So, the solution to Sharia reform
is teaching male gatekeepers how to resist reform at elite universities? This isn’t diplomacy—it’s
strategic patriarchy.
And let’s not forget the Bangladeshi universities suspending girls for “improper hijab” while 96%
face harassment. Or South Africa, where over 50,000 Muslim women remain legally invisible while
Parliament plays political chess. Or Chechnya, where women disappear under the name of
“modesty.”
Yet, only Sharia-based nations are dragged through international media fire. Where is your outrage
when women disappear from London’s housing estates? The USA wasted 2.3 trillion dollars
KUWAIT'S DIRECTIVES:
Kuwait proposes the following directives for immediate action:
1. Condemn the instrumentalization of women's rights for foreign policy leverage. Women's
rights are universal—but they are not tools for sanctions, subjugation, or mockery.
2. Mandate the establishment of UN-led Legal Pluralism Commissions to evaluate how
women’s rights can be protected within religious frameworks, not in spite of them.
3. Call for a global audit—yes, global—of all member states’ gender-based violence statistics,
legal protections, and judicial transparency, including Western nations. Let us hold everyone
accountable, not just those with minarets in their skylines.
4. Develop an International Charter on Cultural Sovereignty and Women’s Rights, where
reform is contextual, consultative, and community-led, not dictated from embassies in
Brussels or Washington.
📣 FINAL STATEMENT:
Kuwait stands for justice, not theatre. For equity, not imperial charity. We will not allow cultural
erasure disguised as emancipation. Let it be known—this is not a battle between East and West. This
is a battle between those who weaponize rights, and those who work for them.
Thank you.
# Directive Core Mechanism Time-Bound Target Why It’s Stronger
A dual-mandate expert (co-
Brings Muslim-majority
UN–OIC Joint appointed by UN Women & Publish an initial 90-
states to the table on
Special Rapporteur the Organisation of Islamic day gap report;
1 equal footing; defuses
on Religious-Law Cooperation) to audit how all follow-up every 6
claims of “Western
Reform states reconcile religious law months.
imposition.”
with CEDAW obligations.
Mandate every state operating 60 days to submit, or
Hits the system where it
Global Guardianship digital guardianship tools (e.g., face suspension from
hurts—modern
2 Tech-Transparency Saudi Absher app) to open UN e-Gov
legitimacy—without
Review source their code & data-flow benchmarking
blanket sanctions.
diagrams for a UN cyber-audit. programmes.
Tie new World Bank &
“Consent Is regional-bank loans to a Converts abstract rights
Clause triggered for
Currency” baseline score on marital-rape into hard money, yet
3 all loans approved
Conditional Aid criminalisation and consent keeps reform locally
after 1 Jan 2026.
Clause jurisprudence—scored by the drafted.
Special Rapporteur.
Pooled GCC + EU + ASEAN
Supplies resources, not
funding for mobile legal-aid
Sharia-Compliant Launch within 120 lectures—answering
clinics staffed by female
4 Legal Aid days; reach 500 China’s “organic
lawyers & ulema, targeting
Accelerator Fund clinics by Q4 2026. reform” rhetoric with
rural Sharia courts in Nigeria,
real local capacity.
South Africa & Bangladesh.
UN Fleet & IFC co-finance zero-
interest micro-loans for Pilot 10 000 vehicles Directly counters Aceh’s
Safe-Mobility
women to buy enclosed by mid-2026; injury side-saddle ban impact
5 Grants for Women
electric scooters in Aceh; data reported with a culturally neutral
Riders
paired with a WHO injury- quarterly. safety fix.
monitoring study.
# Directive Core Mechanism Time-Bound Target Why It’s Stronger
Require every peacekeeper,
NGO staffer & contractor in Full compliance by 1 Moves beyond
Refugee-Camp
Sudan/Chad camps to pass a Jan 2026; non- condemnation to an
6 Gender-Violence
UN-run gender-violence compliant staff enforceable, recurring
Vetting Protocol
vetting course; renew badge expelled. safeguard.
every 6 months.
All member states upload
Forces transparency—
Universal Data disaggregated GBV statistics to
including from Western
Dashboard on a cloud dashboard overseen by Live by International
7 states—so no one can
Gender-Based UNCSW & OECD; default to Women’s Day 2026.
hide behind selective
Violence (GBV) public unless a Security Council
outrage.
veto is filed.
Fast-Track Clause for UNDP offers €5 million Uses carrots with a
the South African technical-drafting assistance Funding withdrawn if sharp, time-stamped
8
Muslim Marriage only if Parliament schedules a deadline missed. stick to end perpetual
Bill final vote before 30 June 2026. delays.
Invoke UNGA Res. 65/283 to Imports proven UN
Chechnya Deploy within 45
deploy a human-rights fact- mechanism to a region
9 Disappearances days; produce
finding mission with a secured Russia shields from
Monitoring Mission findings in 180 days.
hotline for anonymous tips. scrutiny.
Gsl
Honorable Chair, esteemed delegates,
The State of Kuwait acknowledges that certain legal reforms—particularly in personal status
law—can unintentionally result in the limitation of women’s rights, especially when
implemented without inclusive, gender-sensitive consultation.
However, we must be cautious in our approach. Let us suppose for arguemnts sake, that islam
is a war-like religion. That islam promotes the oppression of woman and limit them to mere
objects of their male counterparts. That woman are raped , stoned and forced under duress to
cover themselves. Then delegates, ask yourself a critical question- why aren’t the the rest of
us doing it? what about the rest 99.9 % of muslims around the globe? The media loves to take
the statements of a minority of Islamic extremists and make THAT the common perception
of islam. Western manipulation, orientalism and media propaganda are one of the many
reasons of the degradation of the Islamic world. People talk about sharia law, well I ask show
me the book of sharia law. There isn’t one. sharia law is a culmination of various sources but
a written ironclad text does not exist because the scholars open it for interpretations. Groups
like Taliban, al- qaeda, and boko haram have used this to their advantage to assert milatarized
power.
Kuwait believes that progress must emerge from within societies, led by local scholars,
female jurists, and reform-minded institutions. We strongly oppose the imposition of foreign
standards or Orientalist narratives that paint all Islamic legal systems as inherently
oppressive. Such narratives harm the credibility of this forum and ignore reform efforts
already underway in many Muslim-majority states.
“Kuwait proposes gender-impact assessments of personal laws within dual legal systems, led by local
scholars and women’s rights groups. We also suggest a UNCSW-endorsed mechanism for voluntary
legal review, and a regional council—under the OIC—that can share culturally respectful reform
models. Legal evolution must be sovereign and Sharia-compatible—not imposed from abroad.”
Kuwait remains committed to reform that is authentic, inclusive, and rooted in both our
cultural values and international obligations. We do not seek to mimic—we seek to
modernize with meaning.
Thank you.
