This project aims to strengthen the capacities of member institutions of the Youth Peacebuilding Platform and members of the Youth Support Group in the fields of conflict resolution and peacebuilding.   The first activity of the project included the establishment of a training camp for representatives of 16 organizations that are members of the Youth Peacebuilding Platform, in the areas of conflict resolution for peacebuilding.   The upcoming activities include the implementation of 16 training courses that will be implemented by the participants in the camp, after their return, to other youth, and peer training, in which each member organization of the platform undertakes to train another organization with the most important skills it possesses.   In its second track, the project includes the preparation and advocacy of a general policy paper by the Youth Support Group, and the holding of two training courses for members of the group in the areas of the United Nations Peacebuilding Mechanism and the writing of UN briefings and reports on youth.

. In pursuit of real and effective participation of women in peacebuilding processes, specifically in local mediation, we are implementing this project, which aims to empower, qualify and enhance the capabilities of ten young women by giving them tools, concepts and skills related to local mediation, in addition to introducing them to the experiences of local mediators to benefit from. 40 women and young women benefit from this project, and we implement it with the support of the United Nations Women and in partnership with the Adalah Center for Human Rights Studies. During the last period, we held a training course for 10 young women in mediation and negotiation skills, as the first activity of the project, which also includes the production of a film about mediation efforts undertaken by women in Taiz governorate, and a general policy paper on the same subject. A workshop will be held within the framework of the project to launch the public policy paper and the project film.

  Gaining awareness of their rights is not the only achievement achieved by the women who were targeted by the Women and Peace Project. The biggest achievement for them was their ability to form the Rural Women’s Peace Forum in the districts of Al-Ma’afer and Al-Shamayatain. The Women and Peace Project, which is implemented by the Saba Youth Foundation for Development, with the support of the Danish Development Agency and in partnership with Oxfam, formed the Rural Women’s Peace Forum as an outcome of the “Gender Leadership of Women-Led Organizations/Civil Society Organizations in Al-Ma’afer and Al-Shamaytain Districts” that targeted rural feminist activists, with Representation of civil society activists in the two directorates. The formation of the forum came as one of the necessary tools through which the voice and issues of rural women can be delivered to decision-makers and the negotiating table, with the need for a formation that enhances and facilitates women’s participation in conflict resolution and peace-building at the local level, in addition to pushing women’s development needs files to donors and the private sector and the official authorities. The forum consisted of the 14 rural women targeted in the workshop, including 9 women from Al-Ma’afer and 7 from Al-Shamayatain, in order to deliver the voice of rural women, raise the effectiveness of the role of rural women as an essential element, enhance their participation in peace-building and in various societal fields, and direct public policies, and aims to raise women’s awareness rural women politically and economically, and to promote the principles and concepts of human rights among rural women. The forum will work on protection programs (awareness – psychological support – protection), rights programs, advocacy, conflict resolution, mediation, economic empowerment programs and businesswomen, provided that it is expanded to include a larger number of rural women from different regions of the districts of Al-Ma’afer and Al-Shamayatain.

Women live in the Al-Ma’afer district, southwest of the city of Taiz, in a state of marginalization and human suffering, resulting from the conditions of the war that Yemen has been going through since 2015, and the limited societal view of the role of women, as well as women’s weak awareness of their rights and the lack of education and rehabilitation among them. This is what the Women and Peace Project came to change. The project aimed to involve rural women in peacebuilding processes by strengthening the capacities of women in rural Taiz in the districts of Al-Maafer and Al-Shamayatain in women’s rights, peacebuilding and confronting violence against women. Areej Al-Absi, one of the women residents of Al-Ma’afer who obtained education but did not get the opportunity. Although she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Arabic language education and was born in 1995, and her tireless attempts to participate in community activities, she was unable to overcome the obstacles of society and its limited view of women, which is This deprived her of many rights, some of which she was unaware of, especially since she is the mother of a child and lives with her family in Al-Ma’afer. Areej was persistently weaving her story in search of an opportunity that would enable her to open the doors of communication with the local authorities in the Al-Ma’afer district – in the southern countryside of Taiz, until an announcement knocked on her door to apply for the Women and Peace Project, which is being implemented by Sheba Youth Foundation for Development, with the support of the Danish Development Agency (DANIDA) and in partnership with Oxfam. Areej Al-Absi, who lives in Al-Nashma area, the center of Al-Ma’afer district, says: “The Women and Peace project opened the doors for me to contact and communicate with the local authorities in the district and the governorate, as well as with the women participating in the peacebuilding process who have reached the second track or the track one and a half.” A Unique Change Regarding the change made by the Women and Peace Project in her life, Areej says: “My view of peacebuilding projects has changed, and it has introduced me to the importance of the peacebuilding process in the current period“. “This project raised my ambitions to think about participating in the second track instead of focusing on the first track only, and made me try to participate in the local authority and participate in applying to the women’s affairs department in the directorate.” She adds. Areej attributes all these changes to the awareness she gained during the project’s workshops, explaining: “It changed my level of awareness in the human rights and legal aspects, especially in the participation of women and youth in the peacebuilding process, through the The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Resolutions 1325 and 2250“. An Important Shift The Women and Peace Project was able to highlight and transform the role of Areej Al-Absi from a community activist to a “role more important than just dealing with society and meeting its needs,” she says, adding: “I began to seek a position that would enable me to participate in the management of the district, and I also sought to reach to the position of participation in shaping the public policy of the country“. The Rural Feminist Peace Not only that, the most important achievement for Areej is the formation of the Rural Women’s Peace Forum, which was formed by the project in the districts of Al-Ma’afer and Al-Shamayatain, adding: “I was able to meet and network with rural women, and form a network of good relations with active women and women activists and influencers in the field of peace and community mediation.” Areej asserts: “We established the Women’s Peace Forum, which we seek to make it the unified voice of rural women, and through it I can achieve a lot, as well as by participating in important meetings with donors, in order to advance the peacemaking process“. They Also Have a Role Areej did not forget to convey what she learned to other women, as she sent them a message saying: “The role of women in community mediation and peace-building is not just talk or something superficial, but rather it has weight and results,” stressing: “Your weight as a rural woman gives your role a great weight, especially.” If the activism and opinion you hold represent a lot of women in your village”.

  Sheba Youth Foundation for Development continues to implement the Women and Peace Project in the districts of Al-Ma’afer and Al-Shamayatain in the countryside of Taiz Governorate, which it is implemented with the support of the Danish Development Agency and in partnership with Oxfam.   The first workshop of the project aimed at providing women with sufficient awareness of women’s rights and international conventions regarding them, and how women participate in peace-building for 20 participants from the districts of Al-Ma’afer and Al-Shamayatain.   The second activity of the project aimed at strengthening the capacities of local authorities in the targeted districts through a workshop on how to benefit from the human rights-based approach in taking into account gender, whether during planning, implementation or needs assessment for 20 women, 24 representatives of the local authority in the districts and 2 representatives of Executive offices in the province.   The third activity focused on the involvement of women in the targeted districts by ten women and six representatives of civil society organizations, and training them in the participatory approach, building alliances and networking, the International Conventions of Women’s Rights and an overview of peacebuilding to come out with a plan to prepare a list of needs and a plan to strengthen the capabilities of civil society organizations to contribute to strengthening Gender leadership.   In the fourth activity, Sheba Youth Foundation implemented community forum sessions (safe spaces) with two sessions in each directorate focusing on economic empowerment, women’s and children’s rights, gender, and community participation. The sessions targeted 24 women, displaced persons, and marginalized and vulnerable groups.   The workshops included sessions to transfer experiences and expertise by hosting three women leaders to inform the targeted women about their experiences in building peace and community participation.   The upcoming project activities will include the implementation of specific interventions that meet the needs of the target groups, in addition to community awareness campaigns.   The Women and Peace Project aims to enhance communication between social influencers of women and women’s organizations and institutions and between local authorities and members of the local authority at the local level to enhance the participation of women, girls, youth and marginalized groups in setting priorities and in decision-making for peace and security in the districts of Al-Ma’afer and Al-Shamayatain.

  The young journalist Hana Jamal – in her twenties – was not able to accept the opinions she opposes, and although she respects others, she had not acquired the skills of dialogue and debate, until she joined the youth debate project implemented by Sheba Youth Foundation for Development in partnership with Manasati 30.   Security and Specialty “Because it is the opportunity that I have always wished for, which is to join training courses in the art of debate, being a fan of the art of debate and a follower of YouTube debates, as well as a media student.” This is how Hana Jamal justifies her joining the project, adding: “Mastering the art of debate supports me in my field, so I wanted to be trained in this art and to master it.” and its application as a societal culture. Hana believes that “any training affects the trainee,” stressing that the debate training she received in the project made her follow chronic plans, and “made me more committed and respectful of time, other opinion, and difference.”   Opportunities The training corrected the skills of the participants in the project in “many arts, namely the art of recitation, body language, research and investigation, and the art of persuasion and listening” according to Hana, who acquired many theoretical and practical skills, as she confirms. Participation here in the project opened the door of opportunities for her, explaining: “I got opportunities in many trainings after the debate training that introduced me to the audience.”   Message for the Girls Hana, who is now striving to become a regional debater, sent an important message to the girls saying: “Whatever the obstacles and priorities are, you must leave room for yourself to develop them in any training courses that benefit you, and you must seize any opportunities that are presented to you, and apply in the courses that are offered on social networking sites.” Hana concludes by saying, “We need active women in society, so do not stop at one side or in one field“.

  Sheba Youth Foundation for Development implemented the Youth Debate Project, which aimed to enhance the capacities of 12 young women and men in the field of debate and body language, and to promote the values ​​of dialogue and debate. The project included training 12 young women and men in debate skills and body language, and holding a youth debate on the ability of women to play the role of community mediator just like men. The debate, which was held as part of the campaign to support the mediation of Yemeni women, which aims to support women’s mediation in societal issues and in a way that contributes to building societal peace, was attended by approximately 250 youth, media professionals and university students. After the two teams presented their thesis, the loyalist team won over the opposition team, according to the decision of the jury, which consisted of the debate coach Ahlam Al-Maqaleh, the debater and the international arbitrator Hamza Al-Turjumi and the local mediator, Maeen Al-Obaidi. The event aimed to spread the culture of dialogue and discussion among young people and enhance community support for women’s participation in society and their involvement in various areas of life and to play positive roles in various issues and fields, most notably societal mediation. Sheba Youth Foundation implemented this project in partnership with Manasati 30 and within the Talk platform program.

On Saturday, October 1, 2022, Sheba Youth Foundation for Development launched “Sanad 2” Project to Support Community Stability in Taiz Governorate, which is implemented by the Foundation with funding from the Jusoor Program. At the inauguration, Sheba Youth Foundation for Development stressed the importance of the project, which comes in its second version, following the success of the first version of it, which was implemented in the past year 2021. The speech delivered by the Foundation’s Media Assistant, Muhammad Al-Huraibi, mentioned the success of the first version of the project, which was the formation of three community councils to support local authorities in resolving disputes in the districts of Mudhaffar, Al-Qahera and Salah, in addition to the success of implementing three qualitative interventions to resolve community conflicts in the targeted districts. . The Foundation’s speech referred to the great efforts made by the Foundation’s team to achieve its vision of building a stable society in which youth and women enjoy peace, development and sustainable coexistence. The Deputy Director of the Social Affairs and Labor Office, Mr. Fuad Al-Faqih, in his speech at the inauguration, with the efforts of Sheba Youth Foundation for Development, and its continuous keenness to implement projects that have a real impact on society in Taiz Governorate, while ensuring the active and continuous involvement of youth and women. Sheba Youth Foundation for Development launched the project with two training sessions in community dialogues, network building and management of awareness campaigns for twenty young men and women from representatives of community councils in the three districts of Taiz city and the Youth Alliance of Political Parties in the governorate. Participants in the project received a lot of knowledge and skills in community dialogues and network building, and gained new experiences in managing awareness campaigns. Following the conclusion of the two training sessions, the Foundation announced the launch of the Sanad Network, which combines the three community councils and the Youth Alliance of Political Parties into one component, the first of its kind in Taiz Governorate.

In the midst of the huge information revolution, which formed another virtual society that extends bridges around the world with a family, as the distances decrease and gather, in which visions and problems differ, and even there are cybercrimes, which have become a source of sleeplessness for the countries of the first world despite these enormous technologies that are unparalleled. Wala’a Obaid, a young Yemeni woman, who was among those whom are accepted for the Youth Initiative project to combat disinformation in Yemen, says: Wala’a: “My digital background was okay, so that the matter turned into a very different form, and I became more cautious and careful in dealing with everything that is digital and I sensed the dangers of the digital world that are absent from me and from many girls and women,” she added: “After contemplation and going through the training course that transformed me into a conscious woman capable of dealing with electronic risks, I decided to start the turning point from our home, especially my sister and my mother, with direct awareness and discussion that took place between us until my father joined us, whose view was brief about everything that is digital & dangerous for children only, and the topic does not require great awareness in dealing as it thought by him, to correct his belief and discussed it in more depth and modified the prevailing concept. Turning point The controversy between family members was a turning point for her and made her more excited to benefit her female peers, adding: “I started from my circle of acquaintances with girls and women, and I created a WhatsApp group, made continuous awareness publications, transferred the knowledge that I benefited from, and responded to the inquiries of the members.” For the group, which was numbered 40 members from different groups and different backgrounds. Awareness of knowledge Humankind is a being that needs knowledge and awareness throughout his life non-stop, and each of us must sense our role and feel our responsibilities towards our society and our country, as she said enthusiastically: “I decided to spread the information that I have through a larger and expanded way, and I started from the idle Facebook Messenger group to re-spread hope in it and spread digital information and methods of protection Informatics and how to verify misleading information so that the number of women and girls became more than 360 members. I also corrected any information and we discussed it and clarified its dangers in society. Positive stretch She added: “To expand the circle of awareness, a special group for women and girls was created on the Facebook platform, which was numbered 1098, and awareness publications were made, so that the group will be a free platform that reaches to the largest number of women who struggle with the dark world and the fear that controls them due to the spread of the phenomena of penetration, phishing, immoral acts towards them, and the exploitation of the conservative society surrounding them, the customs and traditions that may be a killing tool in the event of falling into any kind of digital problems that may exceed their privacy as users in the digital world, which is black and threatening to their presence because of the look of shame and disparagement that affects many of them and pursues them, as it is limited to males more broadly, according to the societal view that allows them everything, even in smart devices and social media.” Highlighting I was contacted by one of the international radio stations after the spread of the phenomenon of hacking and blackmailing women and girls through the platforms concerned with Yemeni youth and women, which showed the dangerous side of such extraneous phenomena that destabilize public security, as she said, adding in a low and sad tone: “I was very upset about what was happening and often some girls turn back to me to help them, especially since hacking and extortion are on the rise daily, as well as the lack of a culture of using electronic devices in a safe manner, so she spoke in the radio interview about what is happening and the necessity of raising the awareness of women and girls, especially since they are in a society that instills fear and terror in them from parents and society as a whole and also from deciding to talk openly about what they are exposed to unfortunately. She also conducted direct trainings, targeting the largest segment of women and girls, and the importance of creating platforms that mean protecting them and activating strict laws to curb such abuses. “Through the training course, I became more able to protect my accounts on social media and safely use my mobile phone, and I was greatly affected by what this contributed in strengthening my confidence and avoiding anything that poses a risk to my data.” There is no doubt that influence spread out, especially in awareness and enlightenment processes, and this usually happens during trainings that target women and girls and enhance their societal roles and contribute to limiting the spread of misinformation.

Hamza Al-Tarjumi, one of the youth leaders in Combating Information Disorder Youth Initiative in Yemen, believes that the lack of awareness of the importance of media education in Yemeni society is one of the most important reasons for its absence, which prompted him to start voluntary activities to transfer the knowledge he gained in the project of Combating Information Disorder Youth Initiative in Yemen which was implemented by the Sheba Youth Foundation, to the others. Hamza says: “Before joining the program, I did not have much experience or basic means and tools to work according to my continuous desire to combat disinformation and educate people about the importance of verifying news before believing or publishing it,” noting that the project gave him “the necessary information and sufficient experience, in addition to tools and training.” The skills we have learned are able to launch into my goal of protecting society.” Border-crossing Effect He was not satisfied with acquiring knowledge, as he began to transfer it to the environment in which he lives, and by the means he found available. Hamza says: “Immediately after the end of the project’s training program, I began to transfer knowledge and experiences to the environment in which I live, using the available means, realistically or digitally.” Hamza’s initiative enabled him to implement a number of voluntary training courses in the field of combating misinformation and digital security for many young men and women from his local community, but his broader launch is the one in which he crossed the borders to be able to transfer knowledge to the youth of other Arab countries, which he talks about by saying: “Perhaps the most prominent These courses are a training course in digital safety and combating misinformation, which was implemented in cooperation with the Arab Youth Academy, where approximately 53 young men and women from about 13 Arab countries participated in the course. Youth Responsibility Hamza attributed his joining the project to his desires resulting from the reality in which he lives in a society full of great chaos with false and misleading information in general. Among these battles they are fighting is the media war, in which each party seeks to win public opinion and spread rumors and information that may often be false or fabricated, and there is no doubt that this has negative effects on society and people in general. He stressed: “We are facing a population whose social media is owned by more than half of the it, and within one click, false and misleading news can be spread with ease. From false health reports to misleading religious and cultural concepts, to violence against individuals or groups, misinformation spreads and continues to spread, through All digital means, so my desire was launched from a youth responsibility to stop these rumors and misinformation and limit their spread. To combat misinformation and protect society from its spread. Great Response and Need Hamza received a great response from the young people he trained or from the parties that cooperated with him to spread awareness of the importance of combating misinformation, pointing out that this impact was positively reflected “through their desire and request to repeat such trainings with other young people, and many interacted by spreading some of this knowledge on social media. Social media and some were sending me messages that he shared in WhatsApp groups. The positive impact that Hamza felt made him believe in “the impact of all that I provided in order to achieve my goals in the field of combating misinformation and protecting society.” “The results that I saw in all of what I mentioned above generated in me a greater desire and a stronger ambition to continue in this field while expanding the horizon of my ambitions and continuing to acquire the necessary experiences and knowledge in order to continue the journey,” says Hamza, concluding his speech with certainty by saying: “My motivation has become to continue with this project.” The Anti-Information Anarchy Project is more serious and enthusiastic, hoping that we will actually contribute to achieving its great goals.