Shaima’a Bin Othman, a member of Women’s Solidarity Network, presented the joint statement of Abductees’ Mothers Association and Women’s Solidarity Network at the virtual event, organized by The Office of the Special Envoy for Yemen (OSESGY) today. The event, itself, was a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security, arranged through Zoom, and attended by many human rights organizations’ representatives and activists.
The statement explained that the anniversary happened to take place as Yemen lives in devastating crisis and suffers from brutal conditions due to the armed conflict, which worsened the humanitarian crisis in the country, and that the conditions had gotten worse with the outbreak of lethal diseases and COVID-19 pandemic. It highlighted that women were in a dire need of implementing UN’s women, peace and security agenda to reality. Its stressed on the unprecedented violations against women, as they had become victims of murder, abduction, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and physical assaults.
However, the statement praised the women who continued fulfilling their role in peace building, risking their lives on daily basis in order to demand releasing abductees, and to negotiate to allow the passing of aids to besieged areas. Despite the praises, women, according to the statement, had been facing systematic exclusion in decision making and peace negotiations, as all the negotiation teams that signed Stockholm and Riyadh agreements had no female members in them.
It pointed out the role of Abductees’ Mothers Association in the release of hundreds of abductees more than a week ago, despite having expressed their reservations of exchanging war prisoners with abductees and arbitrarily arrested and forcibly disappeared persons.
The joint statement was concluded by extending a few recommendations such as; mending mothers’ hearts by unconditionally releasing all abducted civilians, who have been arbitrarily arrested, completely stopping the war by resuming negotiations in order to build stable and permanent peace, and providing the needed aids for feminist organizations in order to support peace and aid operations.
It, also, recommended criminalizing and fighting fight the rape of women, children and men, and severely punishing the perpetrators, as well as achieving the principle of gender equity in decision making regarding peace building and other political topics.