ReliefWeb

The Office of the Special Envoy for Yemen continued its gender inclusion efforts and organized a set of virtual skills-and-knowledge building workshops in September with the Yemeni Women's Technical Advisory Group (TAG).

The workshops aimed at advancing the integration of gender analysis and perspectives into the peace process. The knowledge and skills acquired during the workshops are part of a broader effort to support the TAG and its contribution to the peace process.

The first workshop focused on feminist public policy and ways of integrating gender analysis into public policy-making processes. "Gender is much more then advocating for quota. These sessions were important in broadening and deepening our understanding and ability to drill down, undertake and apply gender analysis in policy-making processes – essentially bringing gender equality aspirations to life by making specific, actionable recommendations and provisions", said one of the participants.

The second workshop tackled language in peace agreements, trends in gendered provisions and drafting such texts and involved researchers and experts from the University of Edinburgh’s Political Settlement Research Program. Participants used provisions from earlier peace agreements and worked on applying a gender perspective to these, to promote women’s rights.

During one of the sessions, the Special Envoy discussed with members of the TAG the recent developments in his mediation process. He reiterated the importance of the Technical Advisory Group to the peace process. "Your role is crucial for Yemen and for us, you are well informed and you have the right aspirations for peace and gender equality. You have a fundamental role in making Yemen peaceful again."