Women’s rights activists and peace organizations are calling on women to be meaningfully included in future peace negotiations in Yemen. The International Peace Institute has released a report concluding that women can provide a broader perspective on conflict. The report further states that the inclusion of women and their diverse concerns can increase the chances of achieving a peace agreement.
Activists have emphasized that Yemeni women have been active in the country’s political process. In 2011, Yemeni women were at the head of demonstrations calling for regime change. Women were also actively involved as leaders and participants in the National Dialogue Conference (NDC). The NDC was established in 2013 to guide Yemen’s nation-building process and new constitution. Around 30 percent of the delegates for the NDC were women, and the NDC recommended a 30 percent quota for women’s representation in the government.
LEARN MORE
Yemen conflict must end without delay, demand female peace activists, The Guardian, April 30 2015.
Women and peacebuilding in Yemen: challenges and opportunities, NOREF, November 2013.
In Yemen, a Brief Moment Before Women Were Pushed Aside Again, The New York Times, June 7 2015.
TAKE ACTION
Watch the short film: Fail Better, Yemeni Women!, from the Trials of Spring series.
Read the International Peace Institute’s report on women’s roles in peace processes.
Urge the Obama Administration to ensure women peacebuilders have a seat at the table.