Women need a ministry [Archives:2003/01/Focus]

BY HOURIA MASHOUR
The year 2002 was full of many activities all pouring into consolidation of the status of The National Committee for Woman (WNC), as institutional mechanism greatly depended upon in defending issues and rights of Yemeni women.
The WNC also depends on drawing up general policies pertaining to development of the woman in economic, social, political and cultural areas.
We have begun the year with setting up a plan of contacting some ministries in response to demands of our members and to explain the role and tasks of the WNC and gain support from those ministries.
Women’s issues are in fact interlocked and connected with all sectors and not confined to certain sector or administration, thus need broad support.
This requires opening direct channels with policy-makers at those institutions to pay attention to women’s plans and projects in education, health, labor, and politics.
Despite our appreciation of some officials in ministries (ministers and deputy ministers) who received us and facilitated our task and deeply understood reasons of our presence, on most occasions our meetings were not easy.
The meetings were permeated with various hindrances. There were changes in time of appointments for more than once and shortening of the time of meeting. Sometimes the official would preoccupy themselves with other matters like receiving other visitors or answering telephone calls. Such behavior on part of some officials made the meetings miss their goals and subsequently things became more complicated and position of the WNC representative at those ministries became worse.
The feeling of superiority and the look of belittlement, which some would not express frankly but rather implicitly, lead us to conclude there is more of a need for a Ministry for Women Development in the coming government formation in April 2003.
Such a ministry could make the issue of upgrading women position as a weekly agenda at meetings of the cabinet. We do not want to be under mercy of male ministers but as sisters, as it is stipulated in the constitution.
Would the wise political leadership respond to our just demand, and achieve an unprecedented step in our local reality in the Gulf and the peninsula, as no other countries achieved such a step but those of the Arab Maghreb?
It is a right for around three million women voters preparing for the legislative elections on 27 April 2003 to choose their representatives to the parliament.
This article is an editorial published in Al-Yamania Newspaper

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