Khabar Khair (Only Good News) – Abdul Jalil Al-Salami

    Women are the safety valve for the stability of society and ensuring social cohesion among its members. Policies and interventions in the field of women’s economic empowerment have positive effects inclusive of all members of society.

    National and international decisions and United Nations resolutions recognize that women’s economic empowerment creates long-term social benefits.

    It is increasingly important to integrate women into economic activities in times of conflict, to alleviate women’s humanitarian suffering, reduce economic decline and loss of income, to enhance peace and security building.

     Dr. Fawzia Nasher (President of the Yemeni Businesswomen’s Council) told Khabar Khair (Only Good News) that women’s economic empowerment will substantially contribute to achieving peace.

     She explained that the family that owns a business will not have time to get into conflicts and disputes, because they are making efforts to develop and manage their own business.

      Nasher added, “An economically stable family devotes their efforts to educating their sons and daughters, which reflects the importance of the role of women’s economic empowerment in peacemaking in the community and then to the whole country.”

     Successful experiences confirm that the relationship between women’s economic empowerment and peacebuilding stems from the importance of the role of women in influencing the family, in a way that contributes to creating an environment conducive to raising a generation free from societal hatred that undermine any attempt to build peace.

     Women in Yemen face many challenges and difficulties due to the conflict, that has affected every aspect of their lives, including low participation in politics.

    According to Human Development Report 2020, bias in Yemen against women in the political dimension has reached 79%, but there are continuing efforts to find space in representing and participating in peacebuilding by establishing many entities, initiatives, and women’s organizations.

    UN-Women Office in Yemen has established Yemeni Women Pact for Peace and security, a diverse voluntary women group whose primary goal is ending conflicts, rebuilding peace, and normalizing life in Yemen.

     The second report of Meeting of Women in Politics in the Arab Region 2018 stated that ” Yemeni Women Pact for Peace and security seeks to bring women’s voices to involve them and move them to decision-making centers at all official and social levels.”

      Women Peace Partners Initiative was also established in June 2015. It is a voluntary initiative of a group of women leaders who believe in a culture of peace and security and acting as a broker between grassroots and formal leaders.

    The Peace Partners Initiative stresses that there should be a parallel and community track supportive to the formal track, with a key role in promoting peace at community and grass-roots levels.

     The Group of Nine a network of women’s organizations established in 2019 under the sponsorship of UN Women, including nine networks lead by young women, with more than a thousand young men and women actors, experiences and qualified women in various governorates and the diaspora.

      The Group of Nine includes: the Yemeni Women’s Pact for Peace and Security, the Peace Partners Alliance, Southern Women for Peace, Women’s Voices for Peace, the Feminist Summit, Women Peacemakers, the Women’s Network for Yemen, Youth Awareness Platform, the Women for Yemen Network, and the Awareness Youth Platform.

    All these entities share the goals of

of making peace and moving the political process towards negotiation and a peaceful solution to end the conflict and war in Yemen.

     Resolution of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission on the economic empowerment of women, announced on September 26, 2013, emphasized the importance of the role of women in peacemaking and stressed the importance of economic empowerment.

       Based on the World Bank Group on Yemen for 2020-2021, evidence shows that women reinvest up to 90% of their income on their families, and that women’s economic empowerment in the post-war period is the key to ensure continued peace and stability.