Dubai: Coming from a male-dominated society in one of the poorest countries in the world, a 26-year-old Yemeni woman is making extraordinary inroads towards improving the status of women in her country. Now, she has won an award for her role in organising campaigns to increase awareness among women’s circles of the importance of voluntary work.
“I was very much surprised,” said Amal Al Saqal in an interview with Gulf News about an award presented to her by United Nations Volunteer Programme (UNV) and pan-Arab television station MBC.
She was among the five winners for the Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future project by the two parties.
“I was surprised because the voluntary work is mushrooming in Yemen, especially among youth circles, and there were some 38 applications from Yemen to the award,” she added.
Amal, who volunteers as a liaison officer in one of the Yemeni non-governmental organisations (NGOs), added, “because of the social stereotype that women are weak and they totally depend on men and need men’s help. I wanted to change the perception and say that women are capable and are able to do the same work men do.”
Amal comes from a family known for voluntary work. She and three of her siblings are engaged in the field, while two other siblings are employed in regular jobs.
The number of women members in NGOs rose from 1,800 in 2013 to 3,000 in 2014, as a result of the awareness campaign.
Four young Arabs won awards for their volunteering for a better future. They include Egyptian Zina Al Nahel (Egypt), for her role in the activation of the education process by informal institutions and non-governmental organisations; Jordanian Hadeel Abu Soufeh, for her role in supporting social projects related to facilitate the lives of people with special needs; Moroccan Lamia Bazir, for her role in supporting projects that deal with women’s empowerment and the development of their role in society; and Tunisian Saifeddin Jlassi, for his role in the rehabilitation of young people in areas of arts and drama.
MBC, for the second consecutive year, honoured four Arab winners with ‘Doing Good’ competition awards. They won for their projects in different fields, including humanitarian and environmental fields.
