First Conference on RVAW To Further Ensure Women’s Rights in Yemen [Archives:1998/51/Reportage]

Organized by the Arab Democratic Institute (ADI) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the First Yemeni Conference for Resisting Violence Against Women (RVAW) was held during 5-7 December at the Central Organization for Control and Audit in Sanaa.
The opening session was attended by the Minister of Culture, Mr. Abdul-malik Mansoor; the UNDP resident representative in Yemen, Mr. Onder Yucer; the information deputy Minister, Ms. Amatal Aleem Al-Susuwah; the deputy minister of Social Affairs, the Dutch Ambassador in Sanaa, and other officials. Also attending was a large gathering of Yemenis and expatriates interested in the subject.
During the five sessions of the conference, several issues were discussed including revenge, attitude towards violence against women, violence in the family and at school, etc. Several religious and social elders presented the issue of violence against women from religious and cultural points of view, and the role of social restablishments in fighting violence.
Several intellectuals representing governmental, non-governmental and international institutions and university faculties participated with nearly 20 papers. At the end of every session, there were recaps to the topics discussed.
At the end of its deliberations, the conference called for the following:
1. To revie existing laws with a view to amending them to better serve equality between men and women;
2. To survey hospitals about cases of violence in which women are involved;
3. To promote equal opprtunities among men and women in public service institutions;
4. To issue the necessary law to prohibit violence in schools;
5. To found a new, independent NGO to look into cases of violence in society, especially against women and children’
6. To give women the chance to participate in social and political life;
7. To issue legal measures to prohibit early marriages (childhood ages);
8. To found a new cultural establishment to activate cultural awareness on women’s issues;
9. To take serious efforts towards upgrading the living conditions of women in rural areas;
10. To include issues of human rights, especially women’s rights, in school curriculums.
By: Nadwa Al-Dawsari
Yemen Times
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