Women & Development in Mareb [Archives:1998/26/Local News]

Women in Mareb lead a somewhat primitive lifestyle, as they are controlled by the traditions and the prevailing tribal conventions which rigidly set their duties and rights. For example, there are some traditions which regulate social relations in the case of marriage and engagement, and give a woman the right to choose her future husband, provided that he is of the same tribe.
The tribal traditions along with the unsettled lifestyle and the tribal conflicts have made Mareb women courageous, patient and outspoken. Also Mareb women perform the men’s tasks in their absence.
Ms. Salha Saeed Al-Zayidi, director of the Rural Women Training Center in Mareb, talked to us about the women’s role in the development process and the concerns and the problems of women in Mareb society, in general. In this respect she said: “There are no rural women or urbanized women in Mareb, we all live a simple, almost primitive lifestyle. There is no sign of civilization because we need much more time and education in order to advance ourselves in the civilized society.”
The hard life and the persistent work in the farm does not lead to really developing rural women. Due to the fact that they are generally charged with farming and sheep grazing and also due to the lack of schools for girls and literacy classes, women in Mareb are deprived of a proper education. “The result is about 97% of the women in the region are illiterate,” Ms. Al-Zayidi pointed out.
In addition to the lack of education, there are also health problems. In Mareb there are no specialized health centers which could provide health care to the women, especially to pregnant women. “For this reason alone, 163 pregnant women died last year due to malaria and other deadly diseases.”
Lack of awareness among men and women of family planning methods endangers the family and the mother in particular. “We cannot overcome these problems because of our insufficient information dissemination capabilities,” explained Ms. Al-Zayidi.
Women’s participation in Public Life
Mareb women participated effectively during the parliamentary elections of 1993 not because they were aware of their political rights, but because they were pushed to the ballot box by the political parties concerned without being fully aware of the importance of elections as a device of change.
The parliamentary elections of 1997 were totally different from the elections of 1992. Mareb women participated for the first time in administering the election process in 1997 and they were aware of their actual role in this aspect.
“As a result of the efforts made by the Rural Women Training Center to enlighten people, we managed to prove for the first time that women can play a significant role in administering the election process through the women’s committees, which were established by the center in cooperation with the relevant authorities.”
Thus, efforts are continuously made to empower rural women in Mareb so that they can play active roles in public life. “We are about to establish committees and hold some symposiums for rural women to guarantee their full enfranchise,” concluded Ms. Al-Zayidi.
By Hassan Saeed Al-Zayidi,
Marib

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