Meet stresses Yemeni women's participation in election process

Sanaa: A Yemeni civil society group yesterday concluded an extensive meeting which brought together 150 women to find out an effective way to spread awareness about the importance of women's participation in the forthcoming September elections.

Under the slogan 'Enhancement of women's role in their local communities', the Foundation for Supporting Civil and Democratic Initiatives (Mada) targeted women, willing to effectively participate in the coming presidential and local elections, from 123 districts in the country which has 332 districts.

"We held this extensive meeting to draw a plan of action to spread awareness about women's participation as voters and candidates," Abdul Majeed Al Fahd, chairman of Mada, told Gulf News.

"We wanted to know from these women what we need to push women towards participating in election process and to encourage men to support women in the process," he added.

Sultana Al Jahm, executive director of Mada, said the meeting focused on women who want to participate in the coming local elections as voters, candidates and campaign organisers.

The two-day event came within the framework of a programme supported by the British embassy in Sanaa which started in 2003 and will continue till end of 2006, according to Sultana.

The British ambassador to Sanaa, Michael Gifford, who attended the meeting, praised the role of Yemeni women in their society.

The writer is a journalist based in Sanaa