In conjunction with the efforts made by the international community to make peace in Yemen and create an armistice between Yemeni warring parties, and while excluding Yemeni women of decision making and peace building bodies, despite their great roles in many fields, Abductees’ Mothers Association held a workshop, in coordination with International Civil Society Action Network, ICAN, regarding the role of activism in peace building, as part of She Builds international campaign.
During the workshop, which was attended by 20 trainees, Amat Alsalam Al-Haj, head of Abductees’ Mothers Association, presented several working papers.
The first paper spoke of peace operation in Yemen and the role of Yemeni women in building peace. The second paper was about the role of Yemeni women in activism and the obstacles facing female activists.
Lastly, the third paper focused on the definition of female human rights defenders and peace builders, and the effect of activism and its role in making lasting peace.
The workshop participants were female activists, lawyers, and ambitious young women. Some of them talked about the focus of their activism within peace building framework. Maymouna, 19, focused on disarmament, Noor, 42, and Eilaf, 22, focused on recruitment of children, and Najla’a, 37, and Katrina, 17, spoke of women’s rights during and after conflicts.
Through its three working papers, the workshop was aimed to highlight the significance of women’s activism in peacebuilding, consequently making the recommendations that draw the guidelines for female activists who work on peacebuilding in Yemen.
The workshop was concluded with the following recommendations, which was presented to the local competent authorities and the international peace-fostering actors;
• Highlighting the importance of women involvement in making, building, and keeping peace.
• Increasing the involvement of women in peacebuilding and providing them with the needed logistic support.
• Supporting and creating women’s alliances.
• Providing the necessary support and protection for female human rights defenders.
• Recruiting women into more specialized humanitarian aids fields.
• Raising the society awareness of women’s rights and capabilities by including them in educational curriculums and national laws.
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