Gender, Development and Governance in Yemen, 20 Years On

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1) "...Education is one of the persistent issues for women, and for the state. Also the participation of women in paid work was also a problem. Women are working, but in rural areas which represent 70 percent of the population they work in family farms and are not being paid. Whatever…they produce is not even counted in the general national income of the whole country. So that denies them specific rights, including pensions and other things, such as health protection."

2) "There are two ways to compare things. If we compare the situation of women today and their opportunities in the labor market from the point of view of what the situation [was] in 1990 when the unification took place…then we will find huge progress that has been achieved, because now we do have women in every level, and in every group, and in every skill inside the country working, which was not the case 20 years ago. So, that is one way to look at it. But if we look at what should things be and how the situation compares to other countries and compares to the hope of the whole population, then it is still far …from being achieved. It is not just a problem for women – it is more for women – but it is a problem for the whole population. The unemployment [problem] for youth is so big that people are not finding jobs, regardless of their gender. In some situations, actually from a gender point of view, you find that women have access to work while men don’t.

"...But, it has to be looked at not just as being against or with women, it is all related to social aspects and also related to imaginary roles of what women should do and what men should do..."

3) "Health, and especially health of women, has been a very main concern for us during the 20 years. In the 1990s, we made a huge program where we reached every high school and the last two years of basic school: whatever school that has girls age 11 and above. We worked all around the country...on girls’ health education program. We did it in cooperation, actually, with a private sector group – they wanted to publicize women’s tissue [products] and we wanted to have young women understand the issues related to the development of their bodies in the age of adolescence. That work was a real breakthrough, and at that time it was supported by acceptance from the Ministry of Education. By the end of it, the certificates of the trainers and the people who did the lecturing in all the schools [were] co-signed by me, as the head of the foundation, and the minister of education who was, at that time, Dr. Yahya al-Shaibi."

4) "We believe, and we will continue to believe, that only guaranteeing that girls study until they have a high school [degree] will make 35 percent less early marriage stories and [reduced] mortality rates. This is unbelievably true, and all the studies and all the research have guaranteed that. So...in cooperation with ADRA [the Adventist Development and Relief Agency], it’s an American NGO, and with UNICEF and the recent minister of education we produced a book that illustrates the gap between girls and boys education and the factors that influence that: the social factors, and the governmental factors, and the school itself and its system...All these reasons now that have been illustrated in that book are part of the new plan and strategy of the state. It seems to me with all the donors that they are now trying to realize the solutions, or recommendations, that were suggested in that study."

5) "Also, in both systems before unification, they have had, sort of, the beginning[s] of social and health network care, but it was very limited. The infrastructure was limited. A lot of health problems and more poverty [were] continuously happening with a high percentage of demographic growth. Yemen represents a place where three-quarters of the population are under the age of 25. So that means a lot of people are being born, in schools, and looking for jobs... and that is going to be [increasing] every year. So it’s a continuous problem."

6) "The [third] pillar we are working on good governance, because we believe that with good governance, and democracy and participation...and transparency and all of that will lead to better equal chances for women. On this, we are working over the national budget of the state. The national budget...and its relation to the MDGs [Milennium Development Goals] specifically to three of the goals of the MDGs: one is the balance between genders, the second is the mortality rate for mothers, and the third is the mortality rate for children. So we are trying to see where the money goes for these three goals and what the commitments [are] that Yemen has signed and how it is being translated in money [and] action in the budget...Now, we are also participating yearly in an international report among 85 other countries on how much transparency is being done within the budget and that is work toward something that we call the 'budget of the citizen,' or the citizens’ budget, and hope to arrive to it."

7) "In my opinion, there are some problems in look[ing] at the state and its organs, from some of the opposition groups and people who support the opposition, which is a tendency to weaken the government...That, I think, is not good, because civil societies and others will not be replacing the state – still the state has to do its role. So if one of the things that the state starts to do is to control itself and work in a good governance basis and be transparent on everything, then I think a trust will be mutual with the people and then initiatives, also, in the private sector will be done with safety. Because still even the private sector is not feeling safe enough to invest."

8) "The international media has played a very negative role in representing Yemen to the world. It has been always only covering our news if there has been a bomb or a kidnapping issue happening, and nothing in between. So it looks like we do not exist as people who achieve things, or do things, or survive...

"So, there are lots of other things that the international media could shed light on them and make people see that they could help, that they could do, that it is not a hopeless case. There are people who are eager to change, There are people who are democrats, who are working toward democracy, who are fighting corruption, who are not accepting the status quo as it is, and who are expressing how they feel and their frustration. So, their cry should be listened to, and I think media is supposed to transfer the voice of the people."