The escalation of violence in Yemen, which began in 2014, has further exacerbated an already dire situation for Yemeni women. Since that time, women in Yemen have experienced growing security challenges, displacement, and increasing rates of violence inflicted upon them. At the same time, Yemeni women are almost entirely absent from discussions on how to solve the conflict – even though they are disproportionately affected by it.
Through our work in Yemen, WILPF is supporting our partner organisations and the Yemeni women’s movement more broadly to ensure their experiences and recommendations are reflected in the different tracks of the ongoing peace process, with a goal to reach a more localised, inclusive, and sustainable feminist peace process.
We are also seeking to promote Yemeni women as agents of change and influencers within their communities, which has the side effect of reducing harmful gender norms and expectations that prevent women from achieving equality. This work is in addition to advocating for accountability towards perpetrators of women’s rights violations and abuses.
WILPF’s partner in Yemen, the Peace Track Initiative (PTI), established in 2017, works towards localising and feminising the peace process through promoting inclusion and enhancing feminist knowledge and leadership.
PTI is recognised nationally and internationally as a key player in supporting the peace process in Yemen. In 2016, they mobilised over 70 Yemeni organisations and activists internationally and developed a Women, Peace and Security national agenda for Yemen, which was later acknowledged by the UN Security Council.
Launched by PTI in 2021 following extensive consultations with Yemeni women leaders and national stakeholders, the Feminist Peace Roadmap (FPR) stands as a groundbreaking women-led framework for the achievement of inclusive, feminist peace in Yemen.
In this pioneering roadmap, Yemeni women essentially lay out what needs to be done to move towards a future of inclusive peace, justice, and human security in Yemen.
Since it was initially launched, the FPR has continued to evolve and gain growing recognition for the strength of its recommendations to advance peace in Yemen, which are laid out according to three key phases of the peace process: ceasefire, comprehensive peace negotiation, and political transition.
Countless Yemeni women leaders inside the country and in the diaspora are doing amazing work in pursuit of peace and justice. They excel in diverse fields such as law, journalism, activism, business, and more.
Developed by PTI, with support from WILPF, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, and MADRE, the Women Experts database profiles over 120 Yemeni women leaders, with the goal of supporting women’s inclusion in peace and political processes in the country.
Visit the database.
Ahead of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Yemen in January 2019, WILPF collaborated with six Yemeni human rights organisations to issue a report titled Yemeni Women Map the Road to Peace.
This comprehensive report focuses on addressing the gaps in Yemen’s implementation of UPR recommendations pertaining to women’s rights, sexual and gender-based violence, and women’s participation in political and public spheres. It brings attention to the dire humanitarian crisis, the escalating prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearances, arms proliferation, and the exclusion of women from political and public life. Moreover, the report emphasises the disproportionate impact of the conflict on Yemeni women and provides essential recommendations to tackle the multifaceted challenges faced by the country.
Eight years into the war in Yemen, human rights violations are on the rise and have already reached an unprecedented level in the history of the country.
In a thought-provoking episode of #political_is_personal podcast, Yemeni feminist experts and activists engage in a compelling discussion about the significant role of feminism in shaping and influencing peace processes, and the crucial importance of women’s active participation in the peacebuilding efforts in Yemen.
Tune in to this special episode to gain valuable insights from Yemeni feminists who are at the forefront of advocating for peace in their country.
Peace Track Initiative, WILPF, and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), hosted the second annual Yemen Feminist Peace High-Level Convening between 28 June and 2 July, 2021.
During five days, the Convening featured roundtables and interactive dialogues that addressed the underlying national, regional, and international drivers of conflict in Yemen, current peace factors, and feminist policy options that target these issues.
Learn more about the Convening in this interview with Nesmah Mansoor, Communication and Advocacy Officer for the Peace Track Initiative.
And read key messages from the virtual event on Twitter under the hashtags #FeministPeaceYe and #سلام_نسوي_لليمن
Despite the dire situation in Yemen, Yemeni women are still standing strong, calling for their rights and for a future of peace.
Rasha Jarhum, PTI’s founder and current chair, is a vocal advocate for peace and women’s rights in Yemen. In 2015, when Jarhum first started campaigning for peace in Yemen, she was immediately disappointed by the clear exclusion of women from peace negotiations organised by the United Nations. So she took matters into her own hands.
In 2019, Jarhum was awarded the Anita Augspurg Award for Rebels against War by WILPF Germany and the City of Verden, for her tireless advocacy and inspiring activism for women’s rights in Yemen.
Read more about Jarhum and the women leading Yemen’s peace movement.
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Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.
Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.
Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.
In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region.
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WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.
Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.
Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.
WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.
In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.
In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.
