Women in Development and Peace – Yasmine Abdulhafeez

Anisa Al-Salami was able to enter a field that was traditionally dominated by men only, and she overcame all the obstacles she faced with determination and perseverance. She succeeded in convincing the society around her that women are capable of working in many different professions, just like men.

Anisa opened a commercial store for mobile and computer engineering in the city of Taiz where she lives, and she overcame all the challenges she faced, such as customs and traditions that hindered women from entering business fields. She was also able to train around 50 girls in mobile engineering.

Anisa Al-Salami says she aspires to open more commercial stores to be able to employ many girls who want to work in this profession, as it holds importance in our male-dominated society. It preserves the privacy of women after many have been subjected to blackmail.

Yemeni Women and Economic Empowerment

Regarding the importance of economic empowerment, Nabil Al-Sharabi (journalist and economic researcher) says: “Our country is currently facing many challenges that hinder the real economic empowerment of women, due to the ongoing conflict for about 9 years. Many state jobs and tasks have stopped working, and before that, various programs aimed at empowering women economically have ceased.”

He explained in his interview with “Women in Development and Peace” newspaper that with the cessation of development programs that contribute to women’s economic empowerment, negative results have occurred on public life levels and economic institutions in particular. The goal of those programs was to create a productive and operational environment for women that ensures their right to work and manage their business projects to help them become one of the most important elements of economic development in the country.

On the other hand, economic journalist Majid Al-Daari says: “There is no governmental economic empowerment for Yemeni women today who have been outside the governmental framework for long periods, and those who are in economic government positions do not make any significant impact. Yemeni women have not reached the position of deputy governor of the central bank or director of a commercial bank.”

He continues: “Marginalization, male dominance, women’s surrender, the conditions of conflict, and its consequences all still dominate the national and economic scene, especially in the country, and the solutions relate to the presence of a state that respects gender equality and competencies and activates quotas in every government institution.”

Achieving Economic Empowerment

Faiza Salim Saeed Bani (Director of the Yemeni Businesswomen’s Council branch in Hadhramaut) believes that Yemeni women can achieve economic empowerment by being in decision-making positions and participating in making economic decisions for the country, which enhances their role in empowering women in all fields.

She also emphasized the importance of achieving economic empowerment for women in Yemen through intensive vocational training with entrepreneurship courses, providing them with financial grants, and giving them interest-free loans, in addition to continuous monitoring and evaluation of their projects.

Ibtisam Naji Muhammad Al-Thawbri, the owner of the Garden Beauty Shop, agrees, saying: “Women’s economic empowerment in Yemen can be achieved through continuous support and training, providing a safe and suitable environment, job opportunities in all fields, activating the state’s role in caring for women’s economic projects, whether large, medium, small, or emerging, and addressing the social and familial impacts on businesswomen.”

Meanwhile, Dina Amin Abdul-Wahid, the owner of Cardio Gym (a gym for women), points out a set of steps through which women’s economic empowerment can be achieved, including:

• Education, which is the foundation of empowerment, by providing educational opportunities for girls and women in Yemen, giving them the skills and knowledge necessary to participate in the job market and economic development.
• Enhancing participation in the job market by encouraging women to actively participate in the job market, providing suitable job opportunities for them, creating training and qualification programs targeting women, providing self-employment opportunities in small and medium projects, and encouraging large companies to hire women in various business specialties.
• Financial and banking support by enhancing women’s access to financial and banking services, promoting financial inclusion, providing loans and financing for small and medium projects, and developing insurance and savings programs that suit their needs.
• Legal empowerment by strengthening legal equality for women in Yemen, ensuring the protection of their economic rights.
• Raising awareness and education about women’s rights and economic opportunities in Yemeni society through awareness campaigns targeting girls and women in the community, promoting equality values in business and economic affairs.
• International cooperation by working to enhance multi-party partnerships for women’s economic empowerment in Yemen through international organizations, supporting entities, government agencies, and local communities.

Challenges and Solutions

Dina Abdul-Wahid touched on a set of challenges that hinder women’s economic empowerment in Yemen, saying: “Many businesswomen suffer from discrimination and social bias related to their gender, manifested in the difficulty of accessing job opportunities, lack of appreciation and recognition of their capabilities and achievements, as well as difficulty in obtaining the necessary financing to start or expand their businesses, due to banking restrictions, insufficient guarantees, or the lack of suitable financial support and consultation networks.”

She continues: “The legal system and legislation lack sufficient support for businesswomen, such as financing policies and appropriate economic legislation. There may be a shortage of programs and initiatives aimed at women’s economic empowerment and support in the field of entrepreneurship.”

“Cultural and social restrictions hinder the empowerment of businesswomen. Women face challenges such as expectations of traditional gender roles, restrictions on decision-making freedom, and lack of family support.

The lack of proper guidance and training is an obstacle to empowering businesswomen to continue their businesses. As a result, they may lack the necessary skills to manage their businesses successfully, such as management, marketing, and financial skills.

“Businesswomen may face difficulty in balancing the demands of their businesses with their family responsibilities and their commitment to multiple roles as mothers, wives, and entrepreneurs. This is a major challenge,” she says.

Dina suggests some proposals that can help facilitate the work of businesswomen: “Educational and awareness programs should be provided to women about entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, and workshops and training courses should be offered to develop the necessary skills for business management, marketing, and financial matters, among others.”

“Women’s access to the necessary funding to start and expand their businesses should be expanded by providing soft loans, special financing programs for women, and facilitating access to investment networks and capital dedicated to women’s projects,” she continues.

She believes that cooperation and partnerships can be strengthened between businesswomen, government institutions, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations, as well as providing platforms and events for networking, exchange of experiences, and business opportunities.

She also adds that support programs can be created specifically for women who want to start and develop their businesses, providing professional advice and guidance, assistance in preparing business plans, legal and financial advice, and adopting government policies and legislation aimed at empowering businesswomen and promoting equality in employment opportunities and financing, providing incentives and privileges for women’s projects, and encouraging cooperative projects and the social economy. Support policies should be strengthened to achieve a balance between work life and personal life for businesswomen, by providing childcare infrastructure, encouraging flexible or remote work patterns, as well as highlighting the success stories of businesswomen, and encouraging them as inspiring models, to motivate other women and enhance their confidence in their abilities and potential.”

The Impact of Social and Family Status

Jihad Abdo, a mother of three girls, graduated from high school, but her family circumstances did not allow her to complete her education. Jihad works in the clothing trade and sales, and her husband encouraged her to achieve her ambition of opening a shop to sell women’s clothing in the middle of a popular market in the city of Mahweet.

Jihad says: “The field of trade is not difficult and is not limited to men only. I have overcome all the obstacles that I faced, just as men do, and I have been able to earn a lot of money from my trade, and my family’s income has improved a lot. The things that I used to find difficult at the beginning of my work, I have succeeded in dealing with; because experience and practicing passion make a person strong and able to control all the problems that they face.”

She adds: “Every month I go to the city of Hodeidah with my husband and children on one of the buses to buy a large quantity of clothes wholesale for the shop, and we return on the same day after visiting many places, and then we go shopping.”

In many areas in Yemen, there are specific jobs that women are allowed to do, such as being a doctor or a teacher, and they can practice their hobby, so they decorate women on different occasions or work in the manufacture of handicrafts or cosmetics such as perfumes and accessories, or sewing and decorating clothes, and other activities confined to narrow fields that women are not allowed to exceed.

As for a woman to go out and open her project in the middle of one of the public markets, and work in the field of trade, society will definitely look at her as a tomboy, and perhaps her family members will be forced to boycott her; because she has gone beyond the customs of the area in which she lives, and worked as men do, and mixed with men and dealt with them.

This matter differs from one region to another in Yemen; some women practice commercial activities and open their various projects, and these projects find acceptance from society, to the extent that many members of society sympathize with women and interact with their attempts to earn a living and improve their families’ income; they look at them as their women and refuse them to be subjected to any harm or harassment, and they offer them help in some tasks that they find difficult to deal with or accomplish.

The Importance of Providing Suitable Work for Women

In this regard, Dr. Fawzia Nashir – President of the Yemeni Businesswomen Council and owner of “Magic” International Trading Company – indicates that providing a safe and suitable work environment for women and providing them with appropriate wages is an important part of the process of economic empowerment of women, to provide more creative work in the economic field, and to ensure dedication to work that helps the entity in which she works to grow financially.

Nashir says: “We are living in exceptional circumstances; we find that women have become breadwinners in many families after the loss of the head of the household. The conflicts have also resulted in the participation of many women in jobs that are confined to men, and they do them with all professionalism; which enhances the importance of providing a suitable work environment.”

Nashir adds that women can participate and engage in the labor market with dignity alongside their male counterparts, and their role is no longer largely absent, as their participation is clear in economic decision-making at all levels, from the family to international institutions, and this aims to enhance the economic empowerment of women to increase productivity.”