Kuwaiti Women: From Community Giving to Institutional Volunteering
Kuwaiti women have played a longstanding and influential role in volunteer and humanitarian work, evolving from individual community initiatives into organized and sustainable national efforts. They moved from helping those around them to contributing to an organized volunteer system that left a lasting mark on society.
Kuwait has steadily empowered women in humanitarian and volunteer work through national policies, plans, and strategies, while strengthening partnerships with international and regional organizations. The 2004 Amiri Decree establishing the Volunteer Work Centre helped institutionalize volunteering, encouraged public participation in its projects, provided training, and promoted them through various media outlets.
Today, Kuwaiti women account for about 74.5 percent of the country’s relief sector workforce, while nearly 26 percent head charitable associations and 25 percent serve on their boards. Since Kuwait’s establishment, women have contributed to volunteer work through donations for mosques, traditional schools, furnishings, endowments, and charitable bequests, as well as Quranic schools, healthcare, and educational initiatives.
Historical references indicate that more than 80 Kuwaiti women volunteered to establish and manage traditional schools, while women contributed about 224 of the 440 charitable endowments recorded in Kuwait at the time.
Roots of Volunteering in Kuwait
Chairperson of the Volunteer Work Centre Sheikha Amthal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah stated that the roots of volunteering in Kuwait stem from the society’s traditions of solidarity and mutual assistance, which encouraged women’s participation in serving the community from an early stage.
Sheikha Amthal told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that an early example was the construction of the third wall during Ramadan, when men built the wall before iftar while women prepared meals and supplied water. She described this effort as an early model of volunteerism and community cooperation, with everyone contributing according to their abilities.
Sheikha Amthal recalled the late Sabeeka Al-Khaled, who donated her home to expand Al-Mubarakiyah School. Another historic example was Shaha Al-Hamad Al-Saqer, who donated a shop to house the National Library and contributed a sum of money in support of the Palestinian cause.
She recalled the first Kuwaiti women’s delegation to Egypt in 1956, which coincided with the Tripartite Aggression against Egypt. Members of the delegation volunteered at Egyptian hospitals to help treat the wounded, demonstrating that Kuwaiti solidarity extended beyond the country’s borders.
Evolution of Volunteer Work
Volunteer work expanded alongside Kuwait’s development, moving from families, neighbors, and friends toward organized institutional efforts. School activities launched in 1957 marked an important stage in this evolution.
