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.
