Find out where women around the world wield political power - and why it matters.
Find out where women around the world wield political power - and why it matters.
Yemen
Current Peace Effort
Women’s Roles: In Brief
Official Roles
In multiple rounds of peace talks, women’s official participation in Yemen has been low. No women participated in negotiations for the 2019 Riyadh agreement or in subsequent ceasefire negotiations on this track. In the negotiations leading up to the 2018 Stockholm agreement, women made up just 4 percent of delegates, compared to 12 percent [PDF] of delegates in the 2016 talks in Kuwait (with no women in the Houthi delegations). Although the Yemeni Constitution outlines a 30 percent quota for female participation in government, Yemen’s former president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, transferred his powers to an all-male presidential council in 2022. The Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, who control a large portion of Yemen including the capital of Sanaa, have placed severe restrictions on women including relating to expression and movement, essentially excluding them from any role in public life.
Civil Society Efforts
Women in civil society have worked across political and sectarian lines to influence the peace process, including through the Yemeni Women Pact for Peace and Security. Women have supported local security efforts, including by facilitating humanitarian access, assisting in the release of detainees, combating child marriage, and leading the reintegration of child soldiers. This work has been complicated by the Houthis, however, due to the severe restrictions they have placed on women. Women must follow strict dress codes and largely cannot travel without a male chaperone. They have also been prevented from mixing with men in public spaces.
Women’s Roles
2018 Stockholm Agreement
4%
women
women
Negotiators
No Data
Mediators
No Data
Signatories
Closing the gender gap in the workforce could add a $28 trillion to the global GDP.
Closing the gender gap in the workforce could add a $28 trillion to the global GDP.
Most countries still have laws that make it harder for women to work than men.
Most countries still have laws that make it harder for women to work than men.