Mahani Zain al-Saqqaf, 30, an ambitious housewife, needed training and qualification to change the way she and the other women in her village in al-Daba area, Houta-Lahj lead their lives. Her first step was in the training program organized by the PWP for women in target areas: This program aims at promoting women participation in the identification of priorities for communities, and training on skills on women start-ups and management of income generation projects.

Mahani said: “Training was the start of an idea to change my life and become effective in my contribution to the improvement of my family’s living conditions. I started to apply what I was trained for by meeting with village women to raise awareness on the need for participation in the identification of needs for subprojects, how to interact with social workers, explain their hardships, and how to alleviate such hardships.”

Savings Fund

Mahani goes on by saying: “We started to form a women council (association), which would bring together all village women. We gave the village women an introduction about the PWP and the YECRP (a program funded by the World Bank and administered by the UNDP). In addition, we encourage women to participate so that they can express their needs for priority subprojects and acquire skills that enable them to work and be productive.”

Mahani added: “I made a suggestion for the creation of a savings fund, whereby women can fund small women projects, such as: sewing, embroidery, and sweets-making - the idea succeeded. We started the fund with YER300 thousands as seed money and continues to draw more women to the idea. Village women are excited about the idea and their husbands and relatives support it.”

A Good Idea

The encouragement of women to participate in development, especially under the current circumstances the country is experiencing, is an excellent idea, thanks to the PWP, the UNDP and the World Bank – the latter for funding the YECRP,” Mahani said. “Support should continue for the PWP to enable it to continue supporting Yemeni women in the alleviation of hardships created by the current crises.”, she added.

Tangible Impact

Mahani thinks that Yemeni women have borne the brunt of the current conditions in the country. By supporting women and alleviating their hardships, means support for 50% of the Yemeni society. The initiative by the PWP to support women, whether through subprojects implemented in the water, education or sanitation sectors; or through training, qualification and employments – as social workers, engineers and other activities with contractors - is a successful experience, which has left a positive and tangible impact on the target communities.