May 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the election this weekend of four women to Kuwait’s parliament as “a major step” for the country.

“The election of four women this Saturday is a major step forward for Kuwait, the region and the world,” Clinton said today in her commencement speech to Barnard College’s class of 2009 on the campus of Columbia University in upper Manhattan.

The four Kuwaitis are the first women to serve in the country’s parliament. Women secured the right to vote in 2005, and make up 54 percent of the country’s eligible voters.

Clinton’s speech at the women’s college included an appeal to fight against the “marginalization” of women and girls.

She urged the graduates to start Internet campaigns to support equal rights for women and children, and called for them to use the Web to tell North Korea to release two female American journalists detained by the Pyongyang regime in March.

North Korea said last month it will put Euna Lee and Laura Ling on trial for allegedly entering the country illegally from China. The pair were arrested as they reported for San Francisco-based Current TV on the plight of North Koreans fleeing the country.

Kuwaitis held elections on May 16 for the second time in a year as a political deadlock between the government and elected lawmakers stalled key economic and social reforms. Unable to form policy, parliament regularly blocks proposals or questions ministers, sparking political crises.

Sunni and Shiite Islamists, who last year won about half the seats, secured 16 seats in this weekend’s vote. Liberals, who support more social freedoms and opening up the economy, won eight seats, up from seven in the previous parliament. The remaining seats were won by tribal and independent candidates.

Kuwait bans political parties and members of parliament have no say in the composition of the government.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter S. Green in New York at psgreen@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 18, 2009 16:21 EDT