Good Governance Working Group Rapporteur Shafika Morshid said on Tuesday that the empowerment of women had been among the group’s main priorities during the NDC’s first session.

“We discussed key issues related to the empowerment of women and developed specific constitutional and legal items to ensure genuine participation in decision-making by women,” said Morshid.

“We also reviewed negative phenomena and obstacles which have affected women’s participation.”

Speaking about past legislation, Morshid said, “There were good constitutional provisions for women in 1990’s constitution, yet after amendments were made to them, it was effectively ensured that women wouldn’t be participants when it came to decision-making.”

The Good Governance Working Group has submitted a proposal concerned with carrying out a campaign to raise public awareness about women’s rights and to deepen understandings of the concept of women’s participation,” she added.

It is planned for the campaign to raise awareness via school curricula and activities involving political parties. Morshid explained that the aim was for women to have 30% representation in all governmental organizations.

“This is, in fact, a positive form of selectiveness, and remains in harmony with international accords and especially 1995’s Beijing Declaration and Action Platform,” she said.

“I think in this way we can fight the historic marginalization of women in Yemen,” she concluded.