A woman’s world is full of opportunities, either through natural talents or through acquired skills. This is the journey of Abeer, who is a dedicated and creative trainer, consultant and social activist. She wants to share to give other the opportunity to see what she saw through raising awareness and give clues on how to discover many available opportunities that can be used to build women's capabilities and empower women in various fields. She hopes to inspire other women to achieve goals, no matter how difficult the ways seem to reach them.
Abeer Al-Qudsi, mother of two children, Farah and Muhannad, trainer and consultant, founding member of Ijad Foundation for Development, BA in Languages, from Sana’a University, is currently completing her master’s thesis in business administration.
As the title of the story suggests, Abeer believes in overcoming challenges and in persistence. If you are determined to achieve something and you really want it, you can overcome all challenges. Abeer wants to tell her story because she hopes to motivate other women and counter any rumors or traditions that make up the view that women should not engage in public life.
Already at the time when Abeer was a young girl, she engaged in training activities with local CSOs and got inspired by trainings. This is how she learned she wanted to be on the other side, the side of the trainer. After a while, she tried to get in through a local CSO. They found her unqualified because of her young age, and she has to prove them different. After having had the opportunity several times to show what she had already learned from her peers, the management was convinced and promoted her as the youngest consultant in the organization.
Next to her ambitions as a trainer, Abeer wanted to help her community through voluntary work. Abeer believes that volunteering is the key to development because it bridges divides between the population. Her conviction of voluntary work was formalized through the establishment of the foundation Ijad in 2012. A fun fact is that the license came at the exact same time as the birth of her daughter Farah. The organization’s mission is to build capacities for youth volunteering at the organization. She adores seeing this youth developing themselves and working for other local and international organization now.
Abeer says: “Successes are often associated with the support of the family, which is what helped me to innovate and excel.” Since the beginning of my civic engagement, my parents have always supported me and my decisions. I still remember my joy when my father allowed me to travel to represent Yemen at the 1995 Arab Children’s Conference. At that time, I was the youngest participant! They supported me all the way: my education, cultural activities, internships, and participation in Arab cams when I had not yet joined the university. Then, I got a scholarship in the Department of German Language to learn the German language for two months. It entailed a trip to Germany, and I was nervous for this. My father has always been a supporter me, and the trip turned out to be successful.
Her husband, Abdel-Fattah Abu Al-Ghaith, has furthermore supported her all the way in her career. She says that it is of importance to women to choose a partner who can be a support for a woman in the success of her career.
Abeer says: "My husband is the greatest reason for my success, as he works as a partner for my work in organizations and supported me to attend the first training. This partnership supported me, and he is one of the main reasons for my development and becoming the person that I am today.
The ongoing war in the country impacted Abeer’s career and made a turning point to another way in her community activism, in which she focused on gender and working in the institutions on women and youth projects, especially empowering women and developing their capabilities, as well as developing the capabilities of youth, whether they are project workers, volunteers or target groups.
Abeer talks about one of the experiences that could reflect the need to develop women’s capabilities and make them aware of their rights. She says: “For example, but not limited to, I was very happy when one of the target women in one of the legal awareness sessions told me that she did not know that she had the right to record her car with her name, and she is a working woman. This made me convinced that work must continue to educate women. Many women, especially from rural areas, were trained to be pioneers of local initiatives in their governorates."
The ongoing war in the country impacted Abeer’s career and made a turning point to another way in her community activism, in which she focused on gender and working in the institutions on women and youth projects, especially empowering women and developing their capabilities, as well as developing the capabilities of youth, whether they are project workers, volunteers or target groups.
She concludes with a message for women: "I have a great conviction that women are capable of achieving development and building sustainable peace. What they need is opportunities, because there are qualified women who are able to serve the community." Women need to also find these opportunities through perseverance and ambitions. "Either you succeed or you succeed. There is nothing in between."
Abeer Al-Qudsi, mother of two children, Farah and Muhannad, trainer and consultant, founding member of Ijad Foundation for Development, BA in Languages, from Sana’a University, is currently completing her master’s thesis in business administration.
As the title of the story suggests, Abeer believes in overcoming challenges and in persistence. If you are determined to achieve something and you really want it, you can overcome all challenges. Abeer wants to tell her story because she hopes to motivate other women and counter any rumors or traditions that make up the view that women should not engage in public life.
Already at the time when Abeer was a young girl, she engaged in training activities with local CSOs and got inspired by trainings. This is how she learned she wanted to be on the other side, the side of the trainer. After a while, she tried to get in through a local CSO. They found her unqualified because of her young age, and she has to prove them different. After having had the opportunity several times to show what she had already learned from her peers, the management was convinced and promoted her as the youngest consultant in the organization.
Next to her ambitions as a trainer, Abeer wanted to help her community through voluntary work. Abeer believes that volunteering is the key to development because it bridges divides between the population. Her conviction of voluntary work was formalized through the establishment of the foundation Ijad in 2012. A fun fact is that the license came at the exact same time as the birth of her daughter Farah. The organization’s mission is to build capacities for youth volunteering at the organization. She adores seeing this youth developing themselves and working for other local and international organization now.
Abeer says: “Successes are often associated with the support of the family, which is what helped me to innovate and excel.” Since the beginning of my civic engagement, my parents have always supported me and my decisions. I still remember my joy when my father allowed me to travel to represent Yemen at the 1995 Arab Children’s Conference. At that time, I was the youngest participant! They supported me all the way: my education, cultural activities, internships, and participation in Arab cams when I had not yet joined the university. Then, I got a scholarship in the Department of German Language to learn the German language for two months. It entailed a trip to Germany, and I was nervous for this. My father has always been a supporter me, and the trip turned out to be successful.
Her husband, Abdel-Fattah Abu Al-Ghaith, has furthermore supported her all the way in her career. She says that it is of importance to women to choose a partner who can be a support for a woman in the success of her career.
Abeer says: "My husband is the greatest reason for my success, as he works as a partner for my work in organizations and supported me to attend the first training. This partnership supported me, and he is one of the main reasons for my development and becoming the person that I am today.
The ongoing war in the country impacted Abeer’s career and made a turning point to another way in her community activism, in which she focused on gender and working in the institutions on women and youth projects, especially empowering women and developing their capabilities, as well as developing the capabilities of youth, whether they are project workers, volunteers or target groups.
Abeer talks about one of the experiences that could reflect the need to develop women’s capabilities and make them aware of their rights. She says: “For example, but not limited to, I was very happy when one of the target women in one of the legal awareness sessions told me that she did not know that she had the right to record her car with her name, and she is a working woman. This made me convinced that work must continue to educate women. Many women, especially from rural areas, were trained to be pioneers of local initiatives in their governorates."
The ongoing war in the country impacted Abeer’s career and made a turning point to another way in her community activism, in which she focused on gender and working in the institutions on women and youth projects, especially empowering women and developing their capabilities, as well as developing the capabilities of youth, whether they are project workers, volunteers or target groups.
She concludes with a message for women: "I have a great conviction that women are capable of achieving development and building sustainable peace. What they need is opportunities, because there are qualified women who are able to serve the community." Women need to also find these opportunities through perseverance and ambitions. "Either you succeed or you succeed. There is nothing in between."