The PWP devotes a great deal of attention to strengthening women participation and economic empowerment. This stems from a belief that this would have a profound impact on households and society as a whole. Women, as a group, have been most affected by the current conditions in the country - they also bear many responsibilities.

In strengthening women participation in the identification and selection of projects, the PWP is in fact, activating 50% of society’s potential. Without this, no success can be achieved nor would the desired objectives from implemented projects can be attained: reduction of the hardships of women and children in society.

The PWP has been keen that projects selected are responsive to the needs of women and have a more inclusive economic impact, especially since the current conditions have put women face to face with increased challenges and exceptional responsibilities - at a time when even the most basic services needed are lacking.

On this basis, the PWP, through the YECRP - funded by the World Bank and administered by UNDP - plays a leading role in reducing the hardships suffered by Yemeni women and the improvement of their lives by implementing projects in various governorates of Yemen.

In this respect, major accomplishments have been made, including: -

• Women participation reached nearly 80% of 1058 sub-projects identified in 22 governorates that have been offered in tenders to date.
• Formation of 782 women community councils with the participation of 42,817 woman in in the selection process and the identification of priority sub-projects.

Efforts are continuing in engaging women in the implementation stage of sub-projects as workers. A number of contractors have already recruited women from local communities in appropriate activities. The data forms used for reporting progress of sub-projects implementation, show that 4,725 women have been directly engaged in construction activities.  

Female consultant engineers participate in various activities, including supervision of construction work.

To date, 350 consultants, engineers and  social workers, have been contracted.

During the identification phase, female mobilization teams have also contributed to effort on raising awareness on the cholera outbreak by distributing various awareness materials to village women (posters and brochures).  More than 60,000 copies of awareness materials have been distributed to date.

Strengthening Women Participation is a Goal for PWP

Engaging women in the development process is a key goal pursued by the PWP in the ground. To this end, the Project Management Unit has developed strategic objectives to reflect this goal. This stems from PWP’s recognition of the role of women, who represent 50% of society, and as a mean to ensure the achievements of the objectives the PWP is pursuing, including:

• Ensure sustainability of projects implemented by strengthening the participation of local community stakeholders in the various stages of the project’s life cycle (including women)
• Creation of as many work opportunities as possible for both skilled and unskilled labor.
• Provision of basic services to social groups most in need, (especially women).

Mechanism for Strengthening Women Participation:

The PWP’s Gender Unit has adopted a contemporary mechanism to ensure the strengthening of women participation, relying on the following:

• Participation in the identification of needs and priorities for women.
• Engagement in the selection of projects to be implemented.
• Establishment of women committees and associations.
• Work to increase awareness of the communities of the need to empower women economically and socially.
• Connect women communities to governmental and non-governmental institutions.
• Increased engagement and cohesiveness among beneficiaries.
• Participation in training and project implementation.

Follow-up and Evaluation.

In line with the strategy adopted by the PWP, which aims at enhancing women participation, a number of actions have been implemented to that end, including:

• Amendment of the PWP manual to better serve women.
• Production of a field manual that ensures the inclusion of women priorities in project implementation.
• Engagement of women in beneficiary committees.
• Engagement of women in all stages of the project life cycle.
• Priority to be given to women (engineers) to supervise the implementation process of projects targeting women.
• Introduction of requirements for contractors to create suitable work opportunities for impoverished women during project implementations.
• Report on issues, needs, and recommendation produced by the consultation meetings with women to the PWP Management, for study and inclusion in future plans.
• Inform the PWP Management and branch managers of the mandate of the gender coordinator to ensure joint collaboration.
• Develop indicators that reflect women issues at the various stages of the project’s life cycle.