Female activists trained to empower workingwomen [Archives:2008/1153/Local News]
By: Almigdad Mojalli
SANA'A, May 6 ) The General Administration of Working Women in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs concluded last Wednesday a workshop for activating women's administration in the governorates.
The workshop aimed to train 27 female members from the Laborers Syndicates, National Committee of Women and Working Women Administration in the governorates of Sana'a, Aden, Taiz, Hodeidah and Ibb. The women were trained to spread awareness among working women in the governorates about their rights and duties. The workshop also aimed to explore ways of ensuring sustainability of women's projects through coordination, transparency and exchanging information and expertise among participants.
“We trained these women on how to educate working women in their governorates in the public and private sectors on their duties and rights and the meaning of honorable work and social justice. We made a guide book that contains fundamental rules in the labor law concerning wages, leave and contracts,” said Najwa Al-Adhi, consultant in the Honorable Work and Social Justice Project. “During the training we focus on three laws: the civil services law, personal status law and the labor law, in order to concentrate on working women,” she added.
“I went to Aden and trained the trainees there.
The training included the duties and rights of laborers, the principle of social justice and the comparison between the laws of labor, civil services and personal status,” said Ebtesam Saleh Ali, supervising trainer and Aden Laborer Syndicate representative. “When we went to train the participants, we found that female laborers are unaware of most of their rights,” Ali added.
“In the beginning the project trained about 100 people from the five governorates, 5 supervisors and 20 trainees from each governorate. Each supervisor trained the other 20 trainees in his / her governorate who in turn went to the working field and taught working women in private and public sectors of their rights and duties,” said Al-Kusaifi.
The workshop is part of a program to build up the abilities of working women and is conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and supported technically by the International Labor Organization and financially by the Dutch government.
Najwa Al-Kusaifi, the International Labor Organization (ILO) representative, stated that they brought a team from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs with representatives from the Laborers' Union and the Trading Chamber. The ILO and Working Women's Administraion then trained them and sent them to various business fields.
According to Al-Kusaifi, the project, which started in 2006, has targeted 7,000 laborers in the five governorates so far.
The program is based on three main parties, the Yemeni government represented by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Union of Laborers Syndicates and the Trading Chamber.
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