OVERVIEW
Yemen’s recent history has been tumultuous and dogged with conflict and political crisis. As such, while the peace agreements and national dialogue bodies reflected women’s presence and interests in what a post-Arab Spring Yemen might look like, the various gender provisions could not be realised in the face of escalating conflict and the subsequent humanitarian crisis that remains ongoing. The role of women today has also been shaped by the political divides present in Yemen, as the Yemeni state was only unified in 1990. The two regions in Yemen have a different history in relation to women’s roles in political, economic and cultural spaces. In the current context, discussions relating to women’s participation are framed in terms of insecurity, concerns about insecurity due to the heightened presence of armed groups, other conflict-related violence, extremism and the unfolding humanitarian disaster.
