This article was published in Yemen Times
If you're a Yemeni that travels outside of Yemen, you have probably suffered from having strange questions asked about Yemen. You might even have suffered them from other Arabs, who are supposed to know more about us than the West.
I will give you a simple example. One of my colleagues was surprised that I got my bachelor’s degree in Yemen. She asked with a surprised look in her eyes – “Really? I didn’t know you have universities in Yemen!”
Another example was an Iraqi girl who once asked me “Do you live in huts in Yemen?” That day I was surprised to find out that Yemen, whose architecture is taught in universities worldwide, was a mystery to this girl who is supposed to be educated.
How is it possible that these two girls – assumed to be educated – know nothing about us? Maybe it’s because of our media. Maybe it’s also our own fault, and sadly it’s not just these two girls who have misleading information about Yemen, but even statistics about Yemen are so incorrect about us!
A shocking statistic published by The Daily Beast, states that the participation of women in Yemeni politics is zero percent, while for some strange reason, puts the participation of Saudi women at five percent.
Comparing the two countries, we will find that in Yemen there are three female ministers, two women on the Shura Council and one in the House of Representatives. This is in addition to the presence of female ambassadors and other officers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It goes without saying that Yemeni women played a strong role during the recent revolution, and lastly, that the first Arab woman to ever win a Nobel Prize is Yemeni! How can it then be that the participation of women in politics is zero?
In Saudi Arabia, there aren’t any women ministers or ambassadors or members of the House of Representatives. On what grounds then do they put the Saudi participation of women in politics at five percent? In another newspaper, The Independent, they put Yemen among the countries in which women have no participation in the parliament whatsoever.
Here I raise the question, are these statistics accurate and real? Or do they depend on economic factors to determine the status of women in Yemen? When will the world begin to recognize Yemen for what it is? When are the numbers going to reflect reality? When will Yemen stop being the country that nobody knows anything about? Even the numbers don’t know anything about us!
I will give you a simple example. One of my colleagues was surprised that I got my bachelor’s degree in Yemen. She asked with a surprised look in her eyes – “Really? I didn’t know you have universities in Yemen!”
Another example was an Iraqi girl who once asked me “Do you live in huts in Yemen?” That day I was surprised to find out that Yemen, whose architecture is taught in universities worldwide, was a mystery to this girl who is supposed to be educated.
How is it possible that these two girls – assumed to be educated – know nothing about us? Maybe it’s because of our media. Maybe it’s also our own fault, and sadly it’s not just these two girls who have misleading information about Yemen, but even statistics about Yemen are so incorrect about us!
A shocking statistic published by The Daily Beast, states that the participation of women in Yemeni politics is zero percent, while for some strange reason, puts the participation of Saudi women at five percent.
Comparing the two countries, we will find that in Yemen there are three female ministers, two women on the Shura Council and one in the House of Representatives. This is in addition to the presence of female ambassadors and other officers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It goes without saying that Yemeni women played a strong role during the recent revolution, and lastly, that the first Arab woman to ever win a Nobel Prize is Yemeni! How can it then be that the participation of women in politics is zero?
In Saudi Arabia, there aren’t any women ministers or ambassadors or members of the House of Representatives. On what grounds then do they put the Saudi participation of women in politics at five percent? In another newspaper, The Independent, they put Yemen among the countries in which women have no participation in the parliament whatsoever.
Here I raise the question, are these statistics accurate and real? Or do they depend on economic factors to determine the status of women in Yemen? When will the world begin to recognize Yemen for what it is? When are the numbers going to reflect reality? When will Yemen stop being the country that nobody knows anything about? Even the numbers don’t know anything about us!
The daily beast article: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/20/best-and-worst-countries-for-women-the-full-list.html
