Paper details

Paper authors	Sawsan Al Refai
In panel on	Let’s make sure that Local Humanitarian Leadership means more women’s leadership in the humanitarian sector
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

As Yemen was on the bottom of the Gender Index List for several years. Despite temporary gains for Yemeni women following the 2011 uprisings, and during political transition and national dialogue, the current war and humanitarian crisis have only deteriorated the status of women even more. Women carry the brunt of displacement, loss of head of household to war, and also are more affected by malnutrition, disease and gender based violence.
However conflicts have proved to have significantly changed gender roles in local communities. More local women engaged in humanitarian aid due to their previous civic experience or simply out of necessity (as they are less likely to be targeted according to Yemeni tribal law and this have more access to populations in need).
The proposed paper will present a practice reflection on current humanitarian programs in Yemen. The reflection will aim to examine the impact of effective and meaningful participation of local women in humanitarian aid on their social status compared to that before conflict. It will present evidence on how engagement in humanitarian aid has empowered the position of local women to engage successfully in local peace negotiations and conflict resolution processes. The paper will highlight best practices and gaps. It will also put forth some potential mechanisms that will further empower men in the humanitarian sector to go beyond aid to peace building.

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