This interview has been conducted with Mr. Jawed Awadhi from Taiz governorate. He is engaging in women empowerment activities on many different levels in society.

Initially, we would like to thank all of those, who are exerting efforts in this society, to assist and support women, who suffer and struggle to shape the way of their existence especially under the constant conditions of war. The war exposes women to danger, not only on a personal level, including physical abuse and other kinds of ill treatment. In addition, women are a particular vulnerable group – particularly in the context of armed conflict – and though they are one half of society and present at all domestic levels, as they are mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, and nursemaids. Besides being caretakers, women are also managing their households – in times of prosperity, as well as in times of distress.
In the following part, we will talk about some pioneer feminists and women rights advocates, who have had prominent and impactful roles – not only within their personal lives – but also in the lives of others. Moreover, the below presented feminists have ideas that are rarely discussed now, as the war has strong psychological impacts on our communities. Usually, stories of war suffering and frequent violence and abuse are dominating in public debates.
Finally, we also would like to thank all interviewees for the opportunity to discuss with them at full length, to understand the specific challenges and situations that women are facing in their roles at the individual, family, and community levels.
To begin with, it is necessary to introduce the feminists we are going to talk about. Additionally, the respective woman rights advocate will be asked some questions, to give him the opportunity to express himself.

1-    It is our pleasure to welcome you, Mr. Jawed Al Awadhi and thank you for participating in our interview. First, we would like you to give us some information about yourself. In addition, please give us also some insights into your academic and professional life, that contributed to attain a prominent position in society on the one hand, and distinguished you in the field of Political Sciences in particular?

I was born in 1993, in the Qadas Sub District- Al Mawasit District- Taiz Governorate. I completed my primary and secondary school in the capital Sana’a. After graduating from high school, I got involved in civil work. I contributed to the establishment and management of many youth initiatives and I participated in their activities and projects. Later, I obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences from the Sana’a University, and since then I have worked as a volunteer and employee for many civil society organizations. I also participated in various trainings and activities within the framework of women and youth empowerment. Furthermore, I use my passion for content creation, such as writing articles and success stories, producing videos, social media- and radio content, drafting project proposals, writing project reports, to advocate for women and youth issues. Moreover, I worked as project officer and program manager in several local organizations, and I am currently working as a communication consultant for a Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency. I also got a membership in the Youth Peacebuilding Platform, and I was elected as a member of the administrative board of the Yemeni Society for Reproductive Health.

2-    With regards to your activities in awareness raising of women’s rights and improving their community interactivity, can you tell us about some of your contributions, achievements, or work in this field? At the family level, can you mention some shining examples of how to support women to become role models for others?

At the family level:
 I financially and morally supported and encouraged my mother and my aunts to launch their own projects. Besides, I motivated and keep motivating my sisters to continue their studies and I am dedicating some time of my schedule, to follow up with them and I give them rewards whenever they achieve any success. I also cover the financial expenses that are necessary for their studies. Moreover, I support and empower my fiancé to enter the labor market and to participate in civil society organizations and activities. I also continuously exert my efforts to provide psychological support and protection to women affected by domestic violence within their families. I am raising awareness that violence against wives and daughters is an inappropriate way to resolving disputes.

At the community level:
As an activist and a student majoring in political sciences, I have encouraged many female colleagues and acquaintances around me to study political sciences. Additionally, I helped them to participate in various social, legal, and political activities, sharing my experiences and opportunities and expanding my circles of relationships. This resulted in the successful emergence of many young people, which I was credited for, either directly or indirectly.
As an activist in the field of community, I am aiming to improve and develop society as a whole and to promote the values of citizenship, justice, equality, and equal opportunities for male and female citizens. I worked as an officer and coordinator in the project of Enhancing Community Participation of Youth and Women in Management of Local Affairs, that was implemented through YDN and funded by Oxfam and Progression in 2014. I was responsible for the entire coordination of all project activities. The ultimate result was the issuing of a draft regulation by the Council of Ministers to ensure the inclusion of women and youth in community committees within districts and sub-districts. We were working on planning community development needs and submitting a request for including them in the state’s general budget. The purpose of the regulation was to ensure that the needs of women and youth are represented in the community plans. Furthermore, I have worked as a facilitator for focus group discussions targeting university students within the project “Activating Role of Community to Support and Advocate for Women’s Issues”. The project was implemented through the All Girls Foundation and the Abs Organization. My role was to administer the focus group discussions that aimed to raise awareness and advocate for women’s issues. In total, I have managed sessions for 15 young men and women who raised awareness about women´s issues for more than 1,500 people. During my work in civil society organizations, I have contributed to the planning and management of projects that focused on empowering women socially and economically. Especially my work as a project manager for the “Economic Empowerment Solutions for Women and Youth” project was very important to me. The project was implemented by the Taqaddum Organization for Development and funded by CARE International. Besides, I have been working as coordinator for a symposium on “Sustainability of Women Entrepreneurs Projects”, in cooperation with the Bank of Yemen and Kuwait and the Pioneering Women Initiative.
My knowledge and experience on women's issues and empowerment has been enhanced by my participation in many meetings and training workshops, such as the Consultation Meeting on Women's Involvement in Peace and Security with the Awam Foundation that was funded by Oxfam. I also attended a training program for workers on the topic of women, security, and peace in Yemen organized by the Hague Academy of Local Governance from the Netherlands. Besides, I participated in a training course for proposal writing in women's protection projects. The event was sponsored by the UN National Protection Cluster.
Moreover, I have received a TOT to prepare trainers for integrative governance and community accountability. I have also prepared and provided several training courses for young people on human rights and the basics of women's protection, gender, and gender-based violence. Additionally, I was producing content for several online women's advocacy campaigns for civil society initiatives and organizations. I have written short stories, reflecting women's suffering, with the aim to raise awareness about them. The most important issues were harassment, exploitation, extortion, women's work and education. In line with the same awareness field, I participated in many public debates about several women's issues. Among them, I took part in a debate titled “Work of Yemeni Women in Unconventional Careers”, organized by the Mansati 30 and the Basement Foundation. I won the debate, while being supportive of the mentioned thesis. The discussion was broadcasted online via the social media platform of Mansati 30. I also participated in a debate titled “Yemeni Women's Right in Political Participation”, organized by the Empower Woman Organization at the residence of the UN staff in Sana'a.
I started contributing to women's issues, because I was very shocked to meet women who believed that they were followers of men and that their place was inside the house. They were convinced that men were always better than women and that women had no choice but to serve men and fulfill their wishes. Most women I met were educated and some even worked in the field of education for children. One  reason for this might be a male-dominated socialization and the misperception of the religious texts, which are used in a way that supports women´s dependency and men´s absolute authority.  
A great achievement for me, is my ability to change people´s deeply internalized convictions about women. I was able to change their minds about many issues, such as social and political participation, the right of education and work, equal citizenship, the right of inheritance, economic independence, entrepreneurship, the right to freedom of movement, equal participation at the workplace, etc. I could change the opinion of many colleagues, family members, neighbors, friends, social media followers, and trainees in meetings, and workshops.

3-    Due to the incidents that the country is witnessing, women are considered essential partners in supporting their families. In your opinion, how can men contribute to developing women’s capabilities to become active in safe environments and to surpass the traditional challenges imposed by the “masculine-oriented” society?

First, women need to be empowered to be able to believe in themselves and their ability to participate in the labor market. Empowerment is necessary to strengthen their personalities and to overcome their fear and vulnerability. Men must also train women with the needed skills to be able to engage in the labor market and to develop their capacities and creativity in their field of work. Women should be empowered to gain financial independence, so that they can benefit from their income in a way that suits them. This right should not be disputed, unless they willingly waive part of their salary.

In order to overcome the obstacles, men should reduce family and household tasks for women. These tasks are commonly done by women, without any cooperation of men. Furthermore, in order for women to freely and vigorously get into the labor market, men must assist them and support them in their work, by providing technical, financial, psychological, and emotional support and by strengthening women´s self-esteem.

4-    From your point of view, what is the appropriate mechanism that men can utilize to support women's empowerment and enhance their interaction and participation on a political, economic, and social level?

Firstly, men need to believe in women´s abilities and their right to participate in the management of the state, communities and private agencies. Men also need to believe in women´s equal rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Men need to empower women with knowledge, sciences, and skills, through training and teaching, to provide work opportunities and to nominate and support women to reach decision making positions.

Additionally, men should also contribute to raising awareness within the community about women’s rights, from a religious, legal, and humanitarian perspective. It is important to make the community understand that both, the constitution and the religion, guarantee equality between men and women, away from the extremism of some customs and traditions promoted by some extremist groups.

Gender quota should be supported and advocated to ensure effective integration of women into the public framework, so gender and social justice can be achieved in the society and that both men and women contribute to the building, development, and renaissance of our country.

5-    How can men contribute to supporting the development of innovative solutions to promote gender equality?

Men can carry out advocacy activities and mobilize the public opinion in creative ways, using modern technology, such as social media, influencers and other tools to form directly and indirectly people’s opinions, ideas, and convictions. Gender equality can be also achieved by educating children throughout all age stages. This can be achieved by including the importance of gender equality in the school curricula as well as in the traditional and social media. Women´s economic independence is a gateway to their access to the rest of their political and social rights.

6-    Studies confirm that gender inequality and discrimination, is a root cause and/or consequence of violence against women and girls. To counter this, it requires the existence of gender-sensitive policies and practices that respond to the conditions of our country and community problems.

a-    How can advocacy and joint work between men and women create such policies? What are the tools and mechanisms that are required for support from families and society at large?

At the family level:
It can be performed through face-to-face meetings with men and women to raise awareness of the need to eliminate gender-based discrimination within the family. Awareness raising is also needed to promote the necessity of equal rights in decision-making and in carrying out family tasks to ensure a stable family that enjoys harmony and justice. This includes to advocate for equal involvement of men and women, in performing house chores. Besides, it is necessary to stress the importance of equal access to education, training, and employment within the family, while ensuring fair treatment of the vulnerable.

At the community level:
Awareness programs can be implemented through traditional media, such as television, newspapers, and preachers as well as through modern technology. Both can be used to promote examples of women who got access to decision-making positions or who successfully participated in the labor market. Highlighting women’s roles and success stories will help to inspire other girls and women. It will also encourage them to prove themselves and to achieve their aspirations. Therefore, it would be useful to include these issues in the school curriculum as well, and to address their specific needs in the community.

b-     How to raise the awareness of society to not accept or tolerate violence against women and girls?

As said above, awareness can be raised through traditional media, including television, newspapers, and preachers as well as modern technology. It can be also raised by pressuring politicians to issue and apply laws to protect women and girls and to punish the perpetrators. Awareness can be also raised, by highlighting the religious perspective that supports women and rejects all forms of violence against women. We need to promote the education of women among teachers and the ones in charge of bringing up children, to ensure society´s respect for women´s rights.

c-    How to enhance the role of women so that they can make decisions for themselves and for society?

Economic empowerment is the most important step for women to claim and obtain their rights. With the provision of training opportunities and capacity building, women will be able to acquire more experiences and to gain self-confidence. This can be also achieved by the creation of small initiatives supporting women’s rights at schools and universities in different districts and governorates. Additionally, women need to be qualified and encouraged to implement voluntary initiatives themselves to further to support other women.

We thank you once again for your time and your insights!