An old saying that is still repeated today urges Yemenis to, “Seek knowledge, even if it is in China.” Unfortunately, for many Yemeni women finding a way to China can seem more realistic than achieving literacy—one of the most powerful keys to unlock knowledge anywhere. Yemen has long been listed as the Arab world’s poorest nation and one of the worst places in the world to be a woman. Yemeni women face gender inequalities associated with highly complex and conservative social customs as well as discriminatory political and legal systems. These gender inequalities are deeply interlinked with poverty, illiteracy, oppression, harmful patriarchal norms, and weak or absent social justice. Meanwhile, since 2015 these dynamics have been further compounded by armed conflict, political turmoil, economic crises, and humanitarian emergencies—leaving just one third of Yemen’s women literate today.[1]
Disruptions to Yemen’s education system throughout the nation’s protracted conflict have included schools being damaged, destroyed, or used for other purposes. Girls, in particular, have been kept out of school due to safety concerns. Meanwhile, there are few female teachers and parents often hesitate to send their daughters to schools where male teachers are predominant. Furthermore, over eight years of economic collapse has made it difficult for Yemeni families to afford basic necessities and those struggling to make ends meet tend to prioritize the education of their sons over their daughters. Yemeni parents who cannot afford to feed their children have also increasingly turned to child marriage as a coping strategy and girls are frequently forced to drop out of school for early marriage—with nearly two-thirds of girls in Yemen getting married before age 18.[2] However, marriage often does not translate into food security for these child brides. Some die giving birth—with one Yemeni woman dying in childbirth every two hours today. Meanwhile, others simply endure violence and abuse followed by abandonment. Although divorce can be a relief, these young women who were denied an education are often left with no means of supporting themselves.[3]
In the face of these overwhelming odds, Yemeni women have continued to battle for their right to literacy with an indomitable spirit. For a rare few like Samah, a 35-year-old widow and mother of five, the war has actually put their educational goals within reach for the first time. Samah and her children were displaced from Taiz city to a village where a literacy center has been operating since 2017. “The war displaced all my relatives and friends in different directions to distant places and I wanted to communicate with those that I’ve been separated from,” Samah says. “I really wanted to learn to read and write so I could message them as we are often unable to make any calls due to lack of signal or electricity. When I heard about the literacy center in the village, I said to myself, ‘Perhaps in this village my dream of learning to read and write will come true.’ I have now reached the second term and I am still on my educational journey. I was one of the top students in the first term and now I can read and write—and this has already changed my situation as if I was a blind person who gained their sight.”
The reasons to stand with women like Samah as allies in their battle for literacy are both compelling and well-established. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) upholds literacy as a fundamental human right that is vital for social and human development and pivotal to fostering self-determination. According to UNESCO, “For individuals, families, and societies alike, it is an instrument of empowerment to improve one’s health, one’s income, and one’s relationship with the world.”[4] Yemeni women in particular know that literacy[5] is more than just the ability to read and write—but also a powerful weapon in Yemen’s struggles with deep-rooted poverty and conflict. For women it can even be lifesaving as it gives them access to the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their lives, health, and future. Literate women are more likely to access and understand healthcare information, leading to better maternal and child health outcomes as they apply what they learn about family planning and nutrition. Literacy also creates new economic opportunities for women, as literate women are better positioned to secure employment, start businesses, and contribute to their families’ financial well-being. This is especially important as the war is forcing many women into the workforce, where illiterate women are at a disadvantage.[6]
Critically, literacy also arms women with effective communication skills for participating in peace-building initiatives, promoting justice, and advocating for the human rights of all. According to UN studies, women’s participation in peace processes increases the probability that peace agreements will last, and Yemeni women have already demonstrated their positive influence on historic talks. Following Yemen’s Arab Spring revolution, a National Dialogue was initiated for the purpose of rewriting the constitution and forming a representative government. Although women were underrepresented in these talks, an Oxfam report released in March 2023 indicates that they were the most impartial group and the least influenced by political and tribal affiliations during the transitional political process. The report also describes how throughout Yemen’s current conflict women working across political lines have activated local truce committees to prevent fighting over water and land resources, risked their lives to rescue families trapped by the conflict, and evacuated schools held by armed groups. Women have also successfully negotiated with local authorities and tribal leaders on opening humanitarian corridors and reopening airports. They have often done this voluntarily and without adequate donor and political support—remaining largely invisible to the wider peace processes. “Women’s political participation is considered a luxury by the conflict parties, and women are absent from the political scene in Yemen,” Bilqis Abuosba, Executive Director of AWAM Foundation for Development, told Oxfam. “This makes women and girls’ needs forgotten in an already forgotten crisis.” [7]
Oxfam’s March report also underscores the disregard for Yemeni women’s voices in the nation’s humanitarian and development structures, as initiatives considered critical by Yemeni women face funding shortfalls while donors finance programs according to their own priorities. Yemeni women contributing to the report told Oxfam that they are being left out of strategic funding conversations, highlighting shifts in the international community’s orientation, focus, and support, including a lack of support for programs women see as fundamental to addressing some of Yemen’s most intractable challenges. Thus, it is mostly grassroots organizations that are investing in the long-term payoffs of advancing women’s literacy in Yemen today. Local non-profits and community leaders are establishing informal education centers—like the one Samah attends—to provide literacy and basic education to girls and women who cannot attend formal schools. “Students who have learned to read and write in our literacy center report that their self-confidence has increased and that they have become better mothers,” a coordinator of one such local program reports. “The students mentioned that their self-esteem and ability to solve problems increased and they became involved in local community councils.”
Failing to invest in initiatives to increase literacy among Yemen’s women and girls is shortsighted. So long as Yemeni women remain disenfranchised by illiteracy, they will remain largely voiceless in the decisions and systems that affect their lives. The high rates of illiteracy among Yemeni women should be understood as a fundamental human rights issue as well as a crisis that threatens Yemen’s future. Meanwhile hope for breaking the cycles of poverty and conflict in Yemen lies largely in the resilience of Yemeni women on the frontlines of the battle for literacy. International partners can match the courage and resolve of these relentless warriors by coming alongside them to:
- Center the voices of Yemeni women in program design, supporting their strategic objectives.
- Ensure that women led initiatives have access to flexible funding that defers to best practices identified by Yemeni women rather than to donor requirements.
- Expand community-based literacy and education programs so they can reach more women and girls.
- Train more female teachers and increase their presence in schools as role models and to reassure parents concerned about the safety of sending their daughters to school.
Without a doubt, Yemeni women will continue to “seek knowledge, even if it is in China.” The determination with which they pursue literacy in the face of adversity should inspire international partners to follow the lead of Yemeni women as those who have the most at stake in the battle for Yemen’s future.
[1] https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/2022/09/13/yemeni-women-celebrate-countrys-shift-towards-gender-equality/
[2] https://www.undp.org/yemen/gender-equality
[3] https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/violence-plagues-women-and-girls-amid-yemens-relentless-conflict
[4] https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1240207.pdf
[5] In 2005, UNESCO was defining literacy as, “The ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve his or her goals, develop his or her knowledge and potential, and participate fully in community and wider society.”
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuhPNQv7aWE
[7] https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/speaking-role-women-building-peace-yemen
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