Kuwait, Austria discuss initiatives to empower women in diplomatic roles
The meeting, which took place during Ambassador Al-Sabah's visit to the academy, discussed the possibility of organizing joint workshops and specialized training programs aimed at enhancing the role of women in diplomacy. The visit was part of her participation in the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice meetings being held in the Austrian capital.
Speaking to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Ambassador Al-Sabah noted that the talks also reviewed the bilateral relations between Kuwait and Austria, particularly as the two countries celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. She emphasized the depth of the historical relationship and the mutual interest in strengthening cooperation across various fields.
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Kuwait Times
2 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Bangladesh's youth struggle to find jobs
Uprising last year began over jobs for youth • Factory shutdowns add to job losses DHAKA: A year after an uprising forced the Sheikh Hasina regime in Bangladesh out of power, challenges persist to address the severe lack of jobs among youth who took their grievances to the streets. The uprising, in which some 1,400 people were killed, according to the United Nations, was sparked by the issue of quota reservations in civil service recruitment tests. More than half of highly sought-after government jobs were reserved for certain designated groups, including women, disabled people and descendants of veterans of the 1971 War of Independence. The country's high court has since reduced the quota reservations to 7 percent. Since the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took over, a broad agenda of reform has been drawn up, but experts say a lack of opportunities for the young workforce remains a problem. 'Amid jobless growth faced by the country's youth, a fair chance at civil service recruitment tests became a rallying cry,' said Tuhin Khan, a leading activist in the quota reform movement and the July uprising. 'But since then, we have not seen enough meaningful focus from the government on the economic pressures faced by ordinary people as politics took center stage,' he added. DHAKA: Workers come out from the building of Al-Muslim Group, a garment exporter, in Savar, in Bangladesh's Dhaka district, on August 1, 2025. -- AFP About 30 percent of Bangladeshi youth are neither employed nor in school or training, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Also, about 23 percent of young women are unemployed compared with 15 percent of young men - and last year's protests featured the wide participation of young women. Women in Bangladesh typically have limited opportunities for employment and career growth beyond a few sectors like government, non-governmental organizations and education. The protesters ranged from graduate students seeking government jobs to garment workers and balloon sellers, as segments of the urban poor demanded better, more dignified lives, said Maha Mirza, a researcher who teaches economics at Jahangirnagar University. But the creation of decent jobs depends upon jump-starting investment, which may have to wait for an elected government to be sworn in, said Rashed Al-Mahmood Titumir, a professor of Development Studies at Dhaka University. 'When we have a stable policy regime, there would be more investment, and that will bring in the much-needed jobs for young people, including graduates and women,' he said. Job losses While the protest focused on government jobs, those can provide for only a small slice of the job market. Last year, about 18,000 government recruitments were available, yet more than 2 million young people enter the job market each year. One major employer of young people is the garment and textile sector, but a number of factories shut down due to political changeover, including more than a dozen factories owned by Beximco Group that employed 40,000 workers. Since the political shift, about 10,000 people have been arrested on various charges including corruption and even murder, and they include a number of business owners linked to the former ruling party. Jasim Uddin was a supervisor in a garment factory in the outskirts of Dhaka, but he has been jobless for months. 'I had quit my earlier workplace as they were holding up the payment of wages. Since then, I went from door to door in search of a job,' he said. Many factory owners affiliated with the earlier government feared arrest and went into hiding, resulting in plant closures, said Arman Hossain, a trade union activist from Gazipur. 'We expected the government to appoint administrators who could temporarily operate those closed factories so that workers would not go jobless - but that did not happen,' Hossain said. Additional challenges come from the global economy. The 35 percent tariff announced on Bangladesh's products by the United States, the largest buyer of the country's clothes, poses a threat to many of the four million workers in its garment industry. Meanwhile, the cutting of aid from the US has left about 20,000 development workers in Bangladesh jobless, said aid agency Caritas. The interim government has announced training programs for young people and courted foreign investment to create jobs. Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, who heads the youth and sports ministry, has said the government had plans to create 500,000 new jobs for youth besides training 900,000 young people. At an investment summit in April, businesses from various countries shared investment proposals of about 31 billion taka ($255.35 million), the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) said. But the share of private investment in the economy has dropped from 24 percent last year to about 22.5 percent this year - although in actual numbers it saw a slight uptick from 11,985 billion Taka ($97.68 billion) to 12,484 billion Taka ($101.74 billion), said the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). Investment by the private sector depends upon how much confidence businesses have that the political regime is stable and business risks can be managed, Titumir said. Businesses that employ significant numbers of workers, especially the youth, need support, Mirza added. 'You cannot create thousands of industries or millions of jobs right away, but you can make sure that businesses that provide jobs to workers keep running,' she said. That could include reopening shuttered textile factories, ensuring the fair price of agricultural products for the country's 16.5 million farming families and providing targeted support to small and medium-sized industries like poultry breeding and light engineering, she said. 'We just need a bit more attention to the livelihood crisis of ordinary people,' she said. — Reuters
Arab Times
5 hours ago
- Arab Times
Over KD1 mln collected for Gaza in hours
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 3: The relief campaign for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip was launched under the directives of the wise political leadership and reflects Kuwait's commitment to supporting the Palestinian people and providing urgent humanitarian aid. So far, the 'Gaza Relief: Kuwait by Your Side' campaign has raised KD1,080,440 in donations from around 29,000 donors – an affirmation of the deep-rooted humanitarian and solidarity values in Kuwaiti society. Iman Al-Enezi, acting Director of the Charitable Societies and Endowments Department at the Ministry of Social Affairs, announced the launch of the campaign on Sunday morning. Al-Enezi revealed in a statement to Al- Akhbar Channel that the campaign is in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) and more than 51 accredited charities. She said a special link for donations had been opened, as announced by the ministry on its social media platforms, while praising the great response the campaign has been witnessing since its launch. She added that this campaign is an urgent response to the escalating humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip, to provide food, medical supplies, and relief support to those affected. She disclosed that fundraising will continue until Tuesday through official channels approved by each participating organization. She clarified that at the end of the campaign, participating societies and charities are required to purchase food supplies exclusively from the Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company, according to Cabinet Resolution No. 1461. She said all in-kind donations will be handed over to KRCS; which will be responsible for delivering them to the areas surrounding Palestine, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense through the air bridge designated for this purpose. She also stressed that this initiative, implemented under the directives of the political leadership, is supported directly by Minister of Social, Family and Childhood Affairs Dr. Amthal Al-Huwailah.
Arab Times
6 hours ago
- Arab Times
VISA KUWAIT APP FLAWS TO BE FIXED SOON
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 3: In a step that signals more flexibility and development in terms of easing the experience of everyone, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah revealed that a meeting will be held on Monday with specialists on the 'Visa Kuwait' platform to address the observations made by citizens and expatriates regarding the launching of the platform. Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef confirmed in a telephone call with Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Al-Jarallah that 'development is ongoing until we reach the best, indeed the leadership, in this application at the regional level.' He said, 'We are keen on ensuring there are no groups that do not add value, but rather they have the means to spend. We intend to take into account all the feedback we receive on business or family visits, by adding new categories that were not previously available, including grandchildren, first-degree relatives of the spouse or a resident.' He added, 'every application, when launched, faces some sho Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
