Their numbers have grown to over a hundred women. They take the role of women as partners in public life seriously. That is why the Cultural Gathering for Yemeni Women (CGYW) was formed as an NGO on 9/10/1998. "We have agreed to meet on the first day of every month. The woman who hosts the meeting covers its costs. We discuss plans of action in a cordial atmosphere," said Ms. Takiyyah Al-Ahmar, niece of the Speaker of Parliament, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmar. Other leaders of the movement include Ruqayyah Al-Hajri, Ibtisam Al-Zafri, Amatal Razzaq Jahhaf, Dr. Hafsah Munshi, Maryam Muqbil Al-Basha, Muthirah Abdul-Halim, Ahlam Al-Mutawakkil, and many women from well-known families living in Sanaa.

The group plans many activities, such as city-cleaning, as well as discussions on respect for children's rights, population issues, violence against women, the disastrous effects of qat, and increasing rights awareness among women, etc. Committees were set up to address those and other issues.
"The top priority, however, is to help control the garbage situation in our city, Sanaa. We decided that cleaning up Sanaa was a priority," Ibtisam said. Towards that end, the main actions taken so far include the following:

1) Visiting girl's schools to explain how the spread garbage is a health hazard, an environmental problem, and an eyesore, and what they can do.
2) Preparing posters and banners that call on all to clean up.
3) Visiting families in neighborhoods where garbage seems to be mishandled, to explain what the families can do to help address the problem.
4) Contacting mosque preachers and asking them to include in their sermons advice about hygiene, cleanliness, and how to contribute to a better physical environment.
5) Coordinating with municipal authorities to more regularly collect garbage and assign fixed dumping grounds far from residential areas.
6) Starting actual work on one quarter - Asbahi area, which will be used as a model.
7) Working with local community elders at all stages.

The group also plans to undertake many other initiatives. These include visiting hospitals to help improve health services, visiting prisons in order to make sure the minimum humanly-acceptable treatment is given to all, especially to the women, printing pamphlets about political rights for all, etc.
Some men are amused by the initiatives, but are scared that the women could in fact succeed.

By: Ahlam Al Mutawakkil,
Yemen Times, Sanaa.

 

As the House of Deputies finishes the first half of its term, there are many means of assessing its performance. One tool for such an evaluation is the level of attendance.
During the first 563 days of its life, the period extending from 18/5/1997 till December 31st, 1998, the House held 222 full-house sessions. That does not include the meetings of committees and sub-committees.

The highest level of attendance was a perfect 100% or 222 sessions for MP Ahmed Hamoud Mufleh, and the lowest was 11 sessions or less than 5% attendance by MP Ahmed MohammedAl-Anisi, Minister of Communications. The overall average level of attendance for the whole house was 138 sessions or 62.2%
Mr. Abdullah Ahmed Soufan, Secretary-General of the House of Representatives, indicated that the House had spent the last two sessions before adjourning last week discussing the issue of attendance by members. "We have made a decision to strictly apply the House's rules which call for deductions in the remunerations of the absent members," he disclosed.
 
 

Members Who Attended Less than 100 Sessions or 45%

Members Who Attended 200 Sessions or more or 90%

Name: Number of Sessions Attended Ahmed Mohammed Al-Anisi11 Ahmed Mohammed Soufan14 Abdul-Rahman Mohammed Al-Akwa'a14 Sultan Ali Al-Aradah23 Ameen Ali Al-Okaimy27 Mohammed Al-Khadem Al-Wajeeh36 Shu'aib Mohammed Al-Fasheq37 Naji Mohammed Jumaan Al-Jadr39 Hassan Mohammed Mokait 41 Ali Aayedh Masha'al 46 Mohammed Ali Mazria 54 Mohammed Ahmed Duwaid 58 Saleh Saleh Hindi Daghsan 60 Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh 61 Ahmed Ali Haidar 65 Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Bahr 65 Mohammed Ali Al-Maqrami 68 Ahmed Hamdan Abu Masha'af 71 Mohammed Moh'd Al-Razoom72 Sadeq Abdullah Al-Ahmar 72 Yahya Mohammed Al-Matari74 Hussain Ahmed Abdul-Qader 76 Saleh Fareed Al-Aulaqi 78 Hussain Yahia Al-Zubairi 81 Sadeq Ali Al-Dhabab 81 Yahya Nasser Al-Asadi 82 Hassan Ali Anan 86 Yahya Mohammed Al-Sanabani 92 Abdul-Bari Abdo Jailan 93 Mohammed Hassan Al-Amoodi 95 Ali Abdul-Latif Rajeh 98 Abdullah Hussain Rokkan 99 Rashad Lutf Al-Sha'oori99

Ahmed Hamoud Mufleh222 Ahmed Mohammed Al-Shamri221 Ahmed Ahmed Al-Oqari 220 Ahmed Mohammed Al-Qafri 219 Ali Mohammed AOthrub 217 Mahdi Saleh Al-Ja'adi 217 Ahmed Mohammed Ba-Muallim 215 Naji Saleh Al-Qawsi 215 Khaled Ali Al-Maflahi 214 Mohammed Mahdi Al-Kuwaiti 214 Mohammed Saleh Darmoosh214 Abdo Abdullah Reshid 213 Abdullah Mohammed Al-Maktari 213 Ahmed Mohammed Al-Dhabibi 213 Majood Taha Al-Saeedi 213 Mansoor Ali Al-Hanq 213 Abdullah Sinan Al-Jalal 212 Ahmed Saleh Al-Fageeh 212 Alawi Ali Al-Mashur 212 Mohammed Saleh Al-Ameri212 Aayedh Mohammed Al-Shayif 211 Mohammed Mansoor Al-Bakri 211 Sameer Khairi Ridha 211 Abdo Hashim Al-Alawi210 Ahmed Mohammed Al-Khalani 210 Hayder Thabit Shamsan 210 Saeed Mubarak Dawman 210 Abdul Haj Al-Hamli 209 Adel Abdul-Rahman Dhamran 209 Ismail Mohammed Saleh 209 Mohammed Abdul-Rahman Darmoosh209 Nasser Abdo Arman 209 Ahmed Abdullah Oshaari 208 Ahmed Abdul-Malik Al-Maqrami 208 Ensaf Ali Mayo 208 Salem Taher Al-Ardhi 208 Saleh Mohammed Shaatal 208 Abdullah Alawi Al-Makdi 207 Mohammed Ali Al-Shadadi 207 Saad Al Din Ali Bin Talib 207 Haitem Ahmed Haitem Hassan 206 Mohammed Ali Al-Raziki 206 Mohammed Ali Amran206 Mahdi Mahdi Al-Hatif 206 Abdullah Ahmed Al-Oudaini 205 Fahd Abdulaziz Al-Aleemi 205 Mohammed Ahmed Al-Mikdad 205 Yahya Mohammed Al-Ahdal 205 Abdo Mohammed Noman 204 Aazam Abdullah Al-Saar 204 Mamoon Ahmed Al-Shami 204 Saeed Moqbil Tahir Al-Shoaibi 204 Saleh Kasim Mohammed Kasim 204 Ahmed Murshid Al-Hamairi 203 A'zzam Saleh Selah 203 Nasser Omar Ahmed Shaikh 203 Saleh Mohammed Saeed Moh'd 203 Ahmed Ahmed Sharaful-Deen 202 Abdul-Razazaq Mohammed Qatran 202 Al-Khader Ali Al-Kafish 202 Mohammed Yahya Al-Sharafi 202 Abdul-Latif Hayel Thabit 201 Ahmed Mohammed Al-Zuhairi 201 Ahmed Mohammed Qaatabi 201 Mohammud Kaid Al-Dabasi 201 Abdulkarim Abdullah Al-Rafai 200 Abdul-Raqeeb Abdul-Hamid Salim 200 Mansoor Ali Waseel 200

 

There are eight newspapers which are haunted by cases in court today. These include the Yemen Times, Al-Ayyam, Al-Haq, Al-Shoura, Al-Thawri, Al-Rai Al-Aam, Ray, among others. There are several journalists and columnists who are in prison.
On Saturday, February 6th, Abdul-Latif Al-Kutbi, Chief Editor of Al-Haq, was released following a four-day ordeal in prison.
Haitham Al-Ghareeb, Lawyer and columnist, still languishes in prison in Aden.
Noman Kaied Saif, had been released from prison a week ago after 3 days in prison.
Four weeks ago, Mohammed S. Al-Hadhiri's brother was mistakenly beat up in place of his journalist brother.

Al-Ayyam's chief editor was summoned for interrogation on what his paper had published. Yemen Times' chief editor was summoned for interrogation on what his paper had published.
Two newspapers - Al-Shoura and Al-Rai Al-Aam are blocked from circulation.
The Political Security Organization (PSO) sends armed bands to arrest opinion leaders and journalists, mostly at night.
Yemen's political climate has soured up tremendously over the last few weeks. It seems that the rulers of Yemen want to turn the clock backwards - to the days of authoritarianism. They will not succeed, of course. But they will succeed in inflicting more suffering on the Yemeni people, and bring more instability to the nation.
Pro-democracy activists held an urgnt meeting on this matter. More on Local News