On the occasion of International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on 8 March, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reaffirmed their firm commitment to promoting women’s empowerment and leadership. This commitment extends to promoting gender equality and women’s rights at a global level, which is essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The EU and UNESCO are united in underlining that gender equality is not only a moral imperative, but also a necessary foundational element for the success of any development initiative.
Often the most vulnerable in conflict situations, women face disproportionate disadvantages in access to resources, services and fundamental human rights. This disparity severely limits women’s potential and ability to fully contribute to society.
To increase the economic empowerment and resilience of Yemeni women, UNESCO, in partnership with the EU, has launched multiple interventions to provide livelihood opportunities for communities, particularly through employment in urban renewal programmes. With the generous support of the EU, UNESCO is implementing two projects in the cultural sector, representing a major initiative of its leadership in Yemen’s cultural sector for over eight years. “Cash for Work: Promoting Livelihood Opportunities” (2018-2022) and “Youth Employment through Yemeni Heritage and Culture” (2022-2026) aim to provide economic relief to vulnerable youth and engage them in cultural heritage restoration and creative industries within the city’s historical cities. The initiative focused on restoring the cultural identity and historical heritage of targeted key cities as well as supporting cultural development initiatives in Yemen, thereby improving youth vocational opportunities and promoting gender inclusion.
Within the framework of the project, more than 6,200 youths, of whom 657 were women, were provided with employment opportunities through various capacity-building and employment initiatives. The project also initiated two specialized training programs in carpentry and limestone interior decoration maintenance, with 71% of participants being women. The initiative led to the successful renovation of 10 heritage houses in the historic city of Zabid. The renovations were carried out exclusively by women who completed these training programs, significantly increasing women’s economic independence. The effectiveness of these programs highlights the potential to scale up such interventions with all-female teams and represents notable progress in the project’s commitment to gender inclusion and empowerment.
The initiative has played a key role in strengthening women’s economic and social resilience by fostering entrepreneurial opportunities and setting the stage for income generation and professional growth, providing participants with the necessary skills to enable them to earn a livelihood, pursue personal development and undertake professional pursuits.
Having young female architects lead the project’s field work was one of the goals of UNESCO’s cultural intervention to foster a culture of leadership roles for women. One of its beneficiaries is Nuha Albakar, a young Yemeni woman from Sana’a Old City and a graduate of the Department of Architecture at Sana’a University of Science and Technology. Together with thousands of other young Yemenis, Nuha has been instrumental in the restoration and revitalization of her city, aiming to breathe new life into her hometown and contribute to its recovery.
“I still remember the family’s reaction after the house was repaired, the joy, the tears of a mother and her little daughter. No one can understand those feelings. No matter how much I explain, I can’t convey the feelings I had that day,” says Nuha Albakar, a young architect.
Despite societal barriers, her determination has driven her forward and made her a beacon of hope and resilience for many Yemeni women.
Reem Alkebsi serves as the project architect and contributes to the supervision of the technical aspects of the cultural heritage restoration activities. She supports the lead cultural heritage expert in ensuring the quality, relevance and efficiency of the interventions in each of the targeted historic buildings. She played a key role at the start of the project in designing the templates and reviewing the technical studies used throughout the implementation process. “Together with the UNESCO team, revising 200 studies for the restoration component of the project was a privilege with a forward-looking responsibility. This process and the communication with the four different technical offices in the country allowed us to achieve a mutual understanding and develop a technical study model appropriate for each of the target cities of the project. It was not an easy task, but the experience gained was worthwhile.”
In the cultural and creative industries, the gender ratio tends to be more balanced: many cultural businesses and civil society organisations (CSOs) participating in the Cash for Work initiative have seen active involvement of women in a variety of roles.
For example, the project supported a women-led CSO in the historic city of Aden, engaging 70 women in the design and marketing of artistic products, providing them with the means to monetize their creations. This support extended to capacity-building initiatives for CSOs that had a grassroots presence in their communities but lacked organizational capacity. Such efforts are essential to ensure the sustainable growth of organizations and promote gender inclusion within community initiatives.
Not to mention, the Yemeni House of Music and Arts (YHMA) launched a program to teach Yemeni youth how to make and play the endangered Yemeni lute, the al-Kambus. The initiative aims to preserve traditional music and instill cultural pride in the younger generation. Through intensive training, participants, including one young Yemeni woman, learned deeply about the instrument’s rich history and techniques, and developed a deeper appreciation for their musical traditions.
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