On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Abductees’ Mothers Association in partnership with the Peace Track Initiative (PTI), Elbarlament and the TOBE Foundation for Rights and Liberties with funding from the European Union (EU), held a wibinar to launch the policy paper entitled “Impacts of Enforced Disappearance and Arbitrary Detention on Women and Children in Yemen” on Saturday, via the Zoom.
The policy paper was reviewed within the project “Towards Enhancing the Resilience of Women Human Rights Defenders in Yemen to Advocate Women’s and Children’s” , with the participation of a number of activists, jurists, and field researchers.
The webinar was introduced by “Amat Alsalam Alhajj” president of Abductees’ Mothers Association, and she highlighted the efforts of women human rights defenders, who are considered the minaret of the field and also the importance of communicating the recommendations to decision-makers and working to implement their provisions. Ms. Bilqees Al-Abdali, a researcher and consultant in peacebuilding and head of Change Horizons Forum, also presented a summary of the policy paper to the attendees, concluding with some recommendations.
Mr. Nabil Abdul Hafeedh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Rights for the Partnership and International Cooperation Sector in Yemen, spoke on “Strengthening cooperation between government agencies and civil society organizations to support and protect the families of victims.” He appreciated the efforts of the Abductees’ Mothers Association for the freedom of the forcibly disappeared and touched on the state’s role in ending disappearances in various prisons in conflict areas.
For her part, Ms. Mahfouda Ahmed, Executive Director of the Abductees’ Mothers Association, talked about the challenges facing women human rights defenders and their outstanding efforts in helping the families of the disappeared.
Many of the female activists attended at the webinar moderated by “Ms. Maha Awad” discussed the recommendations of the policy paper. The webinar concluded with the Abductees’ Mothers Association releasing its film “Wings of Freedom,” in which some scenes of the suffering of the families of the disappeared and the struggle of their defenders were shown.