Success Stories

The will and the knowledge is the weapon of every woman

 

Yemeni women are proving day by day in their ability to challenge, resilience, creativity and contribute to the role of young women. Challenges facing women in community participation.

Raeda Al-Ruwaished 30 years from the Eastern District of Dis - Hadramout province - Computer Engineering – she comes from a conservative society that did not encourage much to involve women in public affairs. Like other girls, she faced challenges with the will and deep knowledge that Hadrami women should be left behind and change the typical image of women in their society.

In April 2019, Raida received a training opportunity and joined the Public Policy Fellowship Network as part of the Leaders for Development project implemented by Resonte! Yemen with the support of the Policy and International Law Group, where the program aimed to qualify and provide a group of youth in public policy. With a set of knowledge and tools to enable them to contribute to development processes by providing fellowship opportunities that enable them to work with local authorities.

 

In the program she was trained on topics (leadership skills, policy analysis, outreach, communication with the public - writing policy papers) as well as being assigned to work with local authorities as consultants working to try to find solutions to some of the problems of the community.

The program was an important opportunity for me and other young people to have a new experience of working closely with local authorities, sharing valuable solutions as well as learning about their experiences, sharing ideas and tackling challenges together. She said

 

"One of the most important achievements I have made after the program ended was that I had a consultative role with the youth support fund in the governorate and another with young leaders and worked on youth economic empowerment as my first practical experience in the research field." She added: `` the  fellowship program  enabled me to take forward to obtain regional and international representation and I got another fellowship at the Arab level with the mepi program of young democratic pioneers in 2019.I was a fellow of one of the most important reform and development companies (BRD) in Beirut, Lebanon as part of a national project. To prepare a social protection strategy in Lebanon.

She participated in a number of external workshops of the European Institute for Peace and worked with a group of young leaders to establish the first institution for peace in the province. Recently she was selected as one of the young women leaders in Hadramout within the Women and Peace project of the National Democratic Institute (NDI). She is currently works as  Executive Director of Peace, Building and Consultancy for the Public Policy Program at the Youth Support Fund, Hadramout, in addition to her participation in many community activities.

The Leaders of Development project provided us with the opportunity to demonstrate our ability to play a leading role in community action for peace and stopping war,” she said.

The role that the young counselors worked on gave an indication of the possibility of working in the most difficult circumstances, and that the influence of youth and women in decision-making in wartime is difficult but not impossible.