|
|
  
Yaser M. Ahmed Yemen Times A training workshop on school health was held at the Higher Institute for Medical Sciences from 8/22 to 9/17. More than 35 female teachers took part at this training course, which is funded by the UNDP and the National Population Council. The goal of this course is to highlight the importance of school health to those who lack sufficient information on this subject. Yemen Times met different people involved in this program and filed the following excerpts: Abdulelah Al-Akam said that the training course for teachers on school health is, indeed, a good thing. The course tackled many health-related issues, particularly in the field of health education, which is very important for students. Moreover, the course tackled issues related to reproductive health and first aid since this information is critical to us. The people in charge of the program have exerted praiseworthy efforts in communicating the information in a clear manner to the participants. Saif Ahmed as-Senwi from al-Salam Girls School in the Madbah quarter said that most teachers know nothing about the health aspects at schools, but fortunately they learned many things during this course. Similarly, they learned a lot about the associations involved in providing health and protecting the environment, such as the Red Crescent Association, the Environment Protection Society, and other societies of a similar nature. Saif Ahmed as-Senwi thinks that school health is mostly nonexistent in the majority of schools in Yemen. However, in taking part in this course the participants came to know many things, not only about school health, but also about many other health-related topics. Wafa Abduljabar Shahir, teacher at al-Shima Girls School in the Old City of Sana'a said that the participants learned many useful skills, especially how to avoid infectious diseases and health-related skills in general. She said, "Indeed we used to be ignorant about many issues related to school health, but I think that spreading awareness among schoolgirls is much easier than doing that at boys' schools, since girls are much more disciplined than boys. Ultimately I hope that we can apply the skills that we have gained into practice. That is the most important thing." Samira al-Rayash, a social worker at Ibn Majeed Secondary School affirmed that the course touched on many topics pertaining to school health, reproductive health and first aid. She added, "Unfortunately, some schools lack bathrooms and this causes many health problems. So I think the first thing the concerned authorities should do is to construct bathrooms at the schools lacking this basic service."As far as the assistance of the European Support Program for the National Population Council Technical-Secretariat is concerned, Mujahid Ahmed al-Sha'ab, Director-General of the Population Media, said that the course is a follow-up for the assistance provided by the program for the educational sector through organizing seminars and training workshops in order to train teachers and including the issue of reproductive health in textbooks. In this regard they have implemented many programs with the help of the Population Education Program, the Teaching Professions Union, the Population Society and the Aden-based Child Rights Society. Dua'a Al-Kaderi Women represent half of the population. The female work force in Yemen has reached 20.18 percent, distributed in all different sectors. There are 50 percent in the agricultural sector, particularly in rural areas, 60 percent are working as miners, 16 percent are working in the manufacturing industry, nine percent in administration and services, four percent in electricity and water, and two percent in insurance and properties. The government has done a lot to improve the status of woman through participation in economic activities and the establishment of intensive media campaigns to show the public the the important role of women in social and economic development. Women must participate side-by-side with men in all aspects of life, by providing educational opportunities and care centers for women and implementing the Labor Law which grants the rights of women. The government depends on the mechanisms of economic facets, such as the establishment of the Agricultural and Fish Production Fund. The number of families making use of this fund reached 2500 in 1998. In addition, the Skill Development Fund (SDF), and Small Enterprises Promotion Unit (SEPU) were established to support training enterprises for poor families, in which women can play a leading role in the development process. Other Aspects Social care is an important aspect in the developmental process in which women can successfully perform their role in nurturing a new generation. This approach concentrates mainly on the positive role of women and meets the essential requirements needed for women. Another aspect is eradicating poverty by allowing women to work outside the home and by providing competitive job opportunities. This approach concentrates on improving the pitiful condition of some distressed families. The third approach is equality between men and women. This approach calls for integrating men and women in the developmental process. Women should be competent to perform her their successfully and should be encouraged to participate effectively in society, in accordance with their role as women in this society. In this respect, the government must provide useful projects in which women can take part, such as health services and educational centers. This, of course, encourages woman to join in voluntary work. We met up with female figures and conducted the following interview concerning on the role of Yemeni women. Noor Mohammed Abbad, the Chairwoman of the Woman Integration Association in Development, said that women will be considered an active partner to man by educating girls and by putting an end to early marriage among both girls and boys. The sharp increase in the number of people under the poverty line is a major problem to all. Statistics and numbers will greatly help us to know the problems and find the right solutions. Women in villages suffered from more than women in the cities. Women take the responsibility of the housework, such as cleaning, washing, farming and other things. What aggravates the situation is the deteriorating conditions in Yemen, beginning with the local war in 1994 and the government of the administrative and financial reform programs. The problem is that women are not allowed to participate with men in decision-making; this is a big problem for women in Yemen. Women in Yemen are not in high esteem, because they are treated as women. Fatema Mashhoor, the Chairwoman of Department in the Labor Ministry and Social Insurance, expressed her opinion, saying that interests and programs taking care of women have been the main concern of the people and one of the general policies of population. These policies were achieved after a long struggle and great effort beginning in the 1990s and continuing until the present day. After the struggle, the policies and the programs were formed with the goal of facilitating this strategy. In 2001, efforts have been directed to focusing attention on women's issues and the challenges faced by women, giving priority to women's policies and programs. This cannot be achieved unless these things happen: * Development and women are complementary to each other. It represents women's integration in the developmental process in all aspects of life. * Social diversity is a new method that has been recently adopted by population policies. Its results have been shown clearly, and it has greatly affected the Five Year Plan. It concentrates on the leading role played by women. Fatima Hamza, the Secretary General of Yemen's Women's Union said that the social and historical conditions are a great obstacle to Yemeni women. The prevailing opinion is that backwardness dominates the mentalities of the Yemeni people. Women adhere to the traditions of the society and the community in which they live. Recently, women have played an active role in the development process. The social awareness among people to allow women to associate with men is an important aspect. "Violence against Women within the Yemeni Culture," is a forum in which participants discussed the need to enforce existing laws and to activate the role of criminal institutions in order to rid the country of violence against women. Furthermore, they brought attention to the necessity of reviewing Islam's attitude towards this phenomenon, urging religious leaders to call for respecting women in any place and at any time. The symposium was organized by the Al-Shaka'aeq Forum in Sana'a from September 22 to 24. The participants discussed issues relating to women, such as getting rid of laws which are discriminatory and dangerous to women, eradicating poverty, urging woman to obtain an education, and calling on educational institutions to review curriculum which is discriminatory towards women. The Chairwoman of the Forum, Amal Albasha said, "The main target of the forum is to highlight the main aspects of our Islamic religion which protect women. As a woman, one should be treated as fairly as a man. She possesses mental and intellectual capabilities as that of man." She confirmed that the tribal culture affects our behavior. She gave an example clarifying this point. In one of the tribal areas, she said that a man stirred a woman up; the woman complained to her sheikh. The sheikh censured him in public. This is clear evidence that women enjoy a sense of respect in some tribal areas. The majority of tribes have specific norms. If the man accompanies a woman and that man is exposed to revenge by other tribesmen, it is not acceptable for the avenger to avenge him, because, beside him is a woman. She further added that with women who fall prey to rape, the perpetrator is likely to have strong relations with this woman. In this case, a woman trusts him more than anybody else. Al-Basha said that in the near future, the forum will begin receiving complaints about women who are exposed to violence. It is an experimental enterprise for only six months. The Chairman of the Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC), Ezz Addeen Saeed, considers the violence issue as a result of the general culture within Yemeni society, clarifying that women's roles are completely marginalized. She is confined only to her housework. She is not allowed to participate in the political arena. Only men make political decisions and women are not allowed to participate or to be free. Ezz Addeen has strongly condemned the platforms of the political parties, because as he went on, "These political parties do not change the traditional culture in our country. These platforms are dragged out only behind traditional trends. Thus, there is no real interest in improving women's conditions." He further explained that these women are excluded from practicing their role freely or making decisions. The women's sector is considered only to be voters. He demanded the necessity of women's integration with men, putting great stress on women's role in chairing a party. In her working paper, Mahasen Al-hoti, deals clearly with "family restraint" with regard to violence against women. Around 67 percent of women are mistreated by their husbands, 30 percent by their brothers, 17 percent by their parents, and 57 percent of women were exposed to violence five times a day during the last four months. She added that 35 percent of married women are socially beleaguered by their husbands, 42 percent are forced to work outside the home, and 25 percent of their salaries are seized by their husbands. In his working paper, "Religious Leaders Role Towards Women," the researcher, Mohammad Ali, stated that the government's task is to tackle women's problems by enacting laws, and ending violence against women by enforcing harsh punishments against perpetrators of violence against women. Dr. Adel Al-shargabi, sociology professor at Sana'a University, explained the notion of culture and violence in Yemeni society at a time in which tribalism has the most dominant power over the cultural structure. Concerning the role of the Ministry of Religious Endowments, he pointed out that the Ministry is the mouthpiece of unjustly treated women. In his working paper, "Violence against Women in the Civil Society" Dr. Kaed Al-shargabi, a sociologist at Sana'a University, clearly pointed out that the real danger lies within the structure of the society itself, which carries a particular kind of fabricated awareness within the woman herself. At the same time, the researcher, Rana Ahmad Ghanem, in her working paper, "Violence against Women in the Street," she clarified that the causes of this problem can be attributed to the absence of religious deterrence, the misunderstanding of religion, the viewing of degrading films and TV series, and the absence of deterrent laws. In his working paper, "The Legislative Approach to Violence Against Women," the lawyer, Basem Asharji, demanded legal protection for women and the assurance of her freedom. He greatly stressed discarding all kinds of discrimination against women. The forum came out of the following recommendations: 1- Informative and religious aspect: -- Urging the media to show interest concerning violence against women and demanding the media to change its informative message towards women, along with discarding all different kinds of discrimination which could humiliate or harm them directly. -- Prompting religious leaders to call for respecting and protecting women's human rights everywhere. -- Clarifying the religious attitude towards women. -- Urging the Ministry of Religious Endowment to cooperate and perform its instructive role in putting an end to violence against women through TV programs, symposiums, and religious sermons. 2- Social aspect: -- Cooperating with the official institutions and organizations of the civil society to facilitate the performance of sociological, psychological and legal guidance for women who are exposed to violence. -- Providing job opportunities and eliminating poverty, considering it as the main reason for violence in general and against women in particular. 3- Legal aspect: -- Cooperating with official institutions and the organizations of the civil society in order to activate the role of punitive institutions effectively with regard to violence against women. -- Applying procedures to the national and international laws concerning all kinds of violence imposed against women. -- Coordinating with the official institutions and organizations of the civil society repeal laws which support violence against women. -- Motivating the government to adhere to international agreements and regulations without restraint. -- Coordinating with the organizations of the civil society, urging it to reform the judicial system and to improve its institutional and legal mechanisms. 4- Educational and cultural aspect: -- Urging educational institutions to introduce new mechanisms in an attempt to erase all kinds of violence from school textbooks. -- Calling on political parties to perform their roles effectively by spreading awareness among people and within the parties. -- Conducting comprehensive scientific research to reveal the negative aspects of violence against women. Communications are indispensable in social and psychological processes that are performed by man in everyday life. It is the way of transmitting what is felt or perceived to others. Since time immemorial, man has done his best to improve means of communication and put them to use. He developed means of communication to address the public, taking a meaningful message which must be carefully studied and revised before given to the public. There are two kinds of communications: direct and indirect. Direct communication is between two persons and face to face. Indirect communication is through the media, such as TV and internet. In this respect, we have to concentrate on the population's communication which is one of the important aspects in our life. In 1992, the General Secretariat of the National Council for Population established means to assess and execute population policies in order to make efforts to conduct strategies for the population. The National Program for Mother and Child Health & Family Planning was established with the aim of reducing the fertility rate, infant and early childhood mortality, and motherhood mortality due to pregnancy and delivery. Media and Population Communication in Yemen In the early 1990s with the establishment of the National Council for Population, special attention was given to population problems and their consequences on the national economy. An independent general department for media and education was established. This matter of great importance entails a cooperative effort. The plan is one of the constituents of the population policies in Yemen and one of its executive mechanisms, because it deals with the lack of knowledge among the people in comparison with other Arab communities. Thus, the National Program for Media and Population Policy has developed the the goal of disseminating information to the people in order to tackle problems in reproductive health and family planning in accordance with Islam. This awareness policy takes several forms to educate the public about population policy: - Direct communication can be achieved through lectures, discussions in mosques, camps, youth clubs, health centers and agricultural guidance centers. - Written materials must illustrate the problem within the framework of the special programs in order to explain its dimensions. - Radio is an important means to disseminate short instructive items, such as in short performances and special programs. - TV is also another effective means for hosting specialists and experts who have experience in population policies and have the capacity to implement these plans. - Educational curriculum is of great importance. It develops the level of progress among the people. It is clear that all the above-mentioned factors do not perform their roles effectively. They concentrate on specific occasions and specialized symposiums. It is evident that the majority of the people in Yemen are illiterate; awareness of this should be simple and easily grasped. Woman's role is also important in this respect. She can participate in creating awareness among people in villages and remote places. |
Advertise | Subscribe | Feedback | Discussion
Yemenis Abroad | Weather | Classified
Postcards | Links | Newsletter
Opinion Poll
Any comments or suggestions should be emailed to Yemen Times Webmaster