Joan Parker is President and Chief Executive Officer of Counterpart International.
History happens faster than you expect and is usually part of a chain of events. Monday, March 19, in a filled-to-capacity ballroom in a hotel in Sana’a, Yemen, I witnessed an important link in that historical chain.
Panel presentation at the first-ever National Women's Conference, the aim of which was to identify an active role for women in the democratic transition now underway. Photo: USAID
At the National Women’s Conference, co-sponsored by USAID, Yemen’s transitional Prime Minister Mohammed Salim Basindwa pledged his support for a top demand from USAID-supported women’s organizations—a quota requiring at least 30 percent of high-ranking posts be held by females.
“I truly believe that if women rule the country, that it would be peaceful and prosperous,” Basindwa said. “Yemeni women are important factors in our development, and Yemen will prosper only if women are fully involved.”
Basindwa also focused on the significance of the conference, which drew nearly 1,000 women (and a handful of men). “Today’s gathering represents an unprecedented moment in Yemeni history,” he said. “Currently, Yemen is working to build its future. There is a need to have this conference.”
“This is the Yemeni spring,” declared Yemen’s Human Rights Minister, Horia Mashur. “In this Yemeni spring, women are leaders.” Mashur recalled how women took to the streets a year earlier in uprisings that resulted in a presidential election on February 17, ushering in what is expected to be a new democratic era for Yemen.
“Discrimination has prevented women from achieving high posts in the government,” Mashur said. She is one of only three women who hold high-level national posts; there is one other woman in the Cabinet and one woman among the 301 elected legislators in Parliament.
USAID’s Responsive Governance Project, which Counterpart International is implementing, co-sponsored the conference along with Yemen’s Human Rights Ministry and the National Women’s Committee. The conference is a key step toward a soon-to-be-announced public policy dialogue among the government, civil society, and the private sector, which will include gender issues.
Conferees debated draft positions, including access to education and maternal health services, banning childhood marriage, and eliminating discriminatory practices. A final document is expected later in April. Elizabeth Richard, Chargés d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, delivered a speech with a quote from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that tied the Yemeni spring to events in the rest of the world: “When women organize in large numbers, they galvanize opinion and help change the course of history,” said Richard.
In Sana’a, I could see and feel how they were rising to this unique moment in history.
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Learn more about USAID’s Responsive Governance Project and find more information on women’s empowerment in Yemen in this short Counterpart International video.
What a monumental event for the advancement of women’s rights and women’s equality. It is inspiring to see leaders, including Yemen’s transitional Prime Minister Mohammed Salim Badindwa, pledge support for this quota, which requires more female leadership in the government. Not only is this significant and important for the advancement of Yemeni women, but it also sets an example for other countries going through a similar transition process. This is the time to set new precedents and change out-dated policies. Conferences such as this provide the opportunity to discuss new ideas surrounding this topic of discrimination and ways to implement new policies. I am hopeful that with the support of USAID and Yemen’s current Prime Minister, more highly qualified women will be placed in leadership positions and the livelihood of Yemeni women will increase overall. Lastly, I hope this inspires other countries to begin the discussion surrounding women’s equality.