How The Yemeni Youth Would Inspire By The Experience Of Women In Solidarity To Obtain Their Rights?

Observers of the Yemeni file are aware of the importance of the National Dialogue Conference (NDC) that was held in early 2013, which included all the components of Yemen and came out with important outcomes that establish a modern civil state in Yemen, perhaps the most important of these outputs is to ensure the participation of women and youth in political and administrative positions in the country at a rate Not less than 30% for women and 20% for youth. These outputs were overthrown by the Iran-backed Houthi militia, imposing their control over the capital Sana'a, by force of arms, while the internationally recognized Yemeni government faced this coup by military force, claiming that it is defending the project of the NDC and the new Yemeni federal state .

A full year after the signing of the Riyadh Agreement between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), and the solution of some military problems represented by the security part of the Riyadh Agreement and the implementation of the redeployment on the ground, it became clear near the date of the announcement of the new government, and unfortunately, the leaks talk about not involving the woman in this government is a precedent that has not happened in twenty years in Yemen, and it is even more shameful that this government has not adhered to the outcomes of the NDC that clearly speak of the inclusion of women and youth. 

The pioneers of the feminist movement in Yemen and the groups concerned with the rights of women, especially the “ Women Solidarity “ network, which adopted a wide campaign to condemn the non-participation of women in the prospective government and called on President Hadi, the Prime Minister, and Yemeni political sides to adhere to the outcomes of the NDC and the participation of women by no less than 30%, and They launched the hashtag #NoWomenNoGovernment . This campaign gained widespread popularity on various social media sites and was able to affect the political parties, as some political parties issued statements calling for the exclusion of women in the next government. And this pressure led to postponing the date of the government’s announcement and news of consultations to add several women to the government.

As an independent youth, what is remarkable to me in this feminist campaign that pressured the concerned parties is how we as a youth in Yemen can benefit from the experience of strong solidarity between women and the feminist networks that work hard to advocate for their causes and work to defend the gains they have obtained.

The role of women and youth as new forces outside of the system that is accustomed to sharing power in Yemen is important and essential for the process of positive change and peacebuilding, which requires more joint networking between women and youth to form a pressuring lobby capable of making real transformations and preserving On the gains of change since the 2011 revolution, perhaps an important and strategic work like this needs to start immediately to form coordination committees for the success of this work between women and youth components, and it will also need advisory, logistical and technical support from the Office of the Special Envoy for Yemen and the European Union.

International organizations should focus more on building youth capacities and empowering them politically so that they are organized through youth networks working to advocate youth issues and express their needs. The stage now is the youth stage in building peace and development, and betting on traditional forces only will not create stability. Yemen is a young society. More than 70% of the population are young people, so they have the right to be represented in the decision-making process that relates to their fate and issues.

We have to remember how the presence of young people and women in the NDC contributed to defending civil issues, rights, and freedoms with all courage, and they did not accept any bargains or concessions on these issues. Also in Libya, the participation of women and youth was a positive factor in defending the people's causes Libya and peacebuilding through their active participation in the peace agreement recently established in Tunisia. 

It is time for the momentum to return to the role of youth and women to face the Yemeni scene again after the entrenched political parties have proven that they are not trustworthy of the values of change. 

Floods, ‏diseases and no services, ‏how the power struggle in Aden affected people's ‎lives ‏?! ‏

Floods, diseases and no services, how the  power struggle in Aden affected people's lives ?! 

Since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen, and the situation is getting worse every day, the United Nations announces the largest humanitarian crisis in the world and shocking reports of famine, disease, and infrastructure collapse.

Aden, a city in southern Yemen, was taken by the internationally recognized Hadi government (after they escaped from Sana'a, which was fell by the Iran_backed Houthis) as the country's temporary capital.

The political conflict between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council STC (which is a southern component with directions for the disengagement between north and south and back to Yemen before 1990) greatly affected the lives of the citizens in Aden . The city, which used to be one of the most beautiful cities in Yemen, has been suffering from the absence of basic services, cuts in salaries, and the futility of militias looting land and shops.

The situation has worsened after heavy rains accompanied by strong winds that struck the country in late April, affecting 150,000 people, according to United Nations reports, causing severe damage to dozens of homes, blackouts, and the destruction of the infrastructure of Aden streets, which is basically mainly bad .

Picture from Almansora area in Aden show how the water piles up in the streets. 

Aden is ‎distressed area .

On April 21st, Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek announced in his Twitter account Aden as  distressed area .

After the floods that flooded the city, a number of citizens in Aden protested against the Yemeni government and the STC, because no one had moved to save Aden from the tragic situation in which they are in. Days later, some members of the Yemeni government led by Prime Minister moved from Riyadh to Aden to manage the situation, but the STC forces whom controlling Aden airport, refused to allow the government to enter the city because some of the STC leaders were prevented from returning to Aden earlier .

On April 26, the Southern Transitional Council issued a declaration of self-administration for the south, indicating at one point that the Yemeni government did not fulfill its responsibilities to provide electricity that cut off due to the torrents, and also to repair the streets that were flooded and compensate the citizens whose homes were damaged.

         Image showing polluted water and                           wastewater explode.

Malaria and epidemics sweep through Aden.

 Aden continued to face a political struggle without a real move to save people, the water piled in the streets due to the rains contaminated and sewage exploded, MSF earlier warned  the spread of malaria with the onset of the rainy season, and it really happened, diseases spread unprecedentedly  In the city, according to the health office in Aden, more than seventy deaths occurred in various districts of Aden only last week.

 The political conflict in Aden made it live in a very difficult situation economically, humanitarian and politically .It left the city facing its fate alone with the floods.

Local councils .. black holes!

 Two days ago, the central bank spent for each local council in Aden an amount of fifty million Yemeni riyals, as urgent support to repair the damage caused by the floods in Aden, but still no real changes were touched on the ground.

 Citizens accused that the local councils mangers in Aden are practicing big corruption, and they are one of the reasons for the unfortunate situation in Aden .Ayoub Amer, who is an independent social activist from Aden, said that the local councils mangers did not use the sums spent to extract rainwater and compensate the affected people in the as required and many of this money were looted .

          Copy of the invoices that the Central                  Bank paid to the local councils.

Volunteer youth and social initiatives to confront the floods in Aden.

 From the first day after the rains fell, there was a random movement of young people from the city trying to do something towards the city in the absence of official institutions, this initiatives received support from Yemeni merchants abroad such as the "Bani Yafia allies"  and the " son of shoaeeb " in America, but later it became clear that some of these volunteers have no credibility at work , some of this money has been looted and has not been used properly. 

       Volunteer youth clean and sanitize                                streets in Aden

Aden needs urgent rescue, especially with the government announcing the spread of the Coronavirus virus, and reported more than 20 confirm cases, in addition the deteriorating health structure.

The situation in Aden needs urgent intervention and work to produce quick solutions to the situation, as follows: -

First, a joint committee must be coordinated  between the STC and the legitimate government to manage the disaster epidemic in Aden .

Second, the formation of oversight committees from civil society organizations at the level of each directorate to monitor the level of implementation and performance .

Thirdly, it is important for the World Health Organization to pay special attention to Aden and provide hospitals and health personnel with the tools, clothes and equipment they need. 

Hussam Almolaiki .