Progress Amid Resistance

574 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA25SAF, Shadow Report, 20.26National Committee on Women, Annual Report.27World Food Programme, “Over One Million Yemenis to Benefit from New WFP Project,”news release, March 14, 2007, http://www.wfp.org/node/416.28World Bank, “Genderstats: Middle East and North Africa,” http://go.worldbank.org/AETRQ5QAC0.29Estimate based on the 2004 statistics cited in SAF, Shadow Report, 11.30SAF, Shadow Report, 11.31National Committee on Women, Annual Report, 74.32World Bank, “GenderStats: Education,” http://go.worldbank.org/RHEGN4QHU0.33Yemen’s sixth periodic report to CEDAW, 15.34National Committee on Women, Annual Report, 130.35SAF, Shadow Report, 23.36SAF, Shadow Report, 23.37SAF, Shadow Report, 8.38See for instance Nazar Khuthair al-Abaddi, “Sexual Harassment of Working Womenin Yemen: The Struggle Between Will and the Inherited [Traditions],” Nabanews, May10, 2006, in Arabic, http://www.nabanews.net/2009/3106.html.39Kandy Ringer, “Sisters Arab Forum Implements Project in Yemen to Protect Women andChildren,” BBSNews, October 2, 2008, http://bbsnews.net/article.php/20081002160621254; International Labour Organization, Country Brief 3: Promoting Decent Workand Gender Equality in Yemen (Beirut: Regional Office for Arab States, October 2008),http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---gender/documents/publication/wcms_100282.pdf.40South Yemeni women first utilized their political rights in the 1977 local elections. Thepolitical rights of women from North Yemen were never clearly established under theconstitution, Article 19, which used the masculine form of “All Yemeni are equal inrights and duties.” Taking advantage of the vagueness of this article, Islamic elementswere able to limit women’s political rights during the 1988 parliamentary elections byonly allowing them to vote—not run as candidates.41See for instance “He Called on the Congress to Withdraw Its Male Nominees in theDistricts Where Women Are Nominated,” 26 September (newspaper), August 20, 2006,in Arabic, http://www.26sep.net/news_details.php?lng=arabic&sid=17812.42Yemen—Final Report: Presidential and Local Council Elections (EU Election Observa tionMission, September 20, 2006), 27, http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/human_rights/election_observation/yemen/final_report_en.pdf.43Yemen—Final Report: Presidential and Local Council Elections, 27–28.44Yemen—Final Report: Presidential and Local Council Elections, 28.45Yemen—Final Report: Presidential and Local Council Elections; Yemen’s sixth periodicreport to CEDAW, 19–20.46National Committee on Women, Annual Report, 115.47SAF, Shadow Report, 18–19.48In an attempt to unify their challenge to the ruling GPC, the six leading oppositionparties established a combined platform in 2004 called the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP).