Building Peace through Economic Empowerment

On the 25th/4/2006 the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor issued an official permit for the Youth Leaders Development Foundation (YLDF) to operate due to its effective contributions in raising the rate of male and female participation in the development of their societies through education and training directed towards participation and work and capacity building of young men and women in response to the needs of the labor market and development, promoting opportunities to obtain primary, secondary and higher education qualifications, skills and experiences, and facilitating income-earning opportunities, empowerment and inclusion. The institution is based on the concept of 100% decentralization, whereby all members are given full authorities  on a democratic basis, especially in regarding  the selection of members of the board of directors, which is carried out through fair elections in addition to collective negotiations in decision-making.

 

On the basis of the Youth Economic Capacity Development Initiative, which was implemented by Girls World Communication Center (GWCC)in 2005 in partnership with the Middle East Organization (CHF), as the first work carried out by the Center to include both genders, an unprecedented demand for activities related to the needs of the labor market was created, and through that Youth Economic Development Center (YEDC) was established Youth Leaders Development Foundation (YLDF) in 2006, which was officially opened in a separate building in front of the New Sana’a University - Al-Dairi Street - and its CEO, Safa Rawiya, and the work of the new center, which is concerned with economic empowerment, along with the Girls World Communication Center (GWCC), with its executive director, Iman Al-Tawqi, which is more concerned with the rights aspect, gender and reproductive health to empower women in social and human roles. The two centers became under the umbrella of the Youth Leaders Development Foundation (YLDF), which played its role in direct intervention to bring peace by creating economic opportunities for young people to avoid engaging in conflicts, as Yemen suffers from conflicts and differs in their period and place of occurrence, such as tribal revolts or extremist groups. Thus, it gave young people the opportunity to have a role in the civil society by giving them sufficient qualifications in this aspect.

 

Youth Leaders Development Foundation (YLDF)’s priorities are to enrich girls’ outcomes with regard to human rights, women’s rights, advocacy, and gender, as well as enhancing their role in the management of civil society organizations, communication, negotiation, gender, volunteering, networking, and building knowledge capacity in the field of social justice, and international agreements that guarantee the improvement of women’s conditions in all human rights and development fields and enhance confidence in women’s effective societal participation, through networking and participation in community awareness of human rights.

 

It is worth mention that the Youth Leaders Development Foundation (YLDF) managed during 2006, to involve both genders (boys and girls) in its educational and cultural activities, which were previously exclusively for girls, targeting high school graduates of both genders with the aim of benefiting from and exploiting the compulsory leave year after high school in developing the personality and acquiring various skills that would help them pass the later stages, whether in the scientific and cognitive field or in the work environment, and contributed to the service of distinguished young men and women who showed leadership capabilities and a distinguished academic aspect. In addition to providing annual or semi-annual grants for those belonging to families with limited income, although it cannot provide them to everyone, but it creates certain models that expand the circle of education and achieve democracy and equity so that everyone gets the opportunity to get education, not just those with high incomes.

 

On February 11, 2006, the Human Rights Information Center was opened within the framework of the Girls' International Language Center, with generous funding from the United Nations Development Program. It includes a library, a computer network, and the Internet, and it raises awareness and trains young women activists in the democratic and human rights fields, and provides knowledge, legal and cultural information that enhances the capabilities of girls in these fields. During the inauguration, Mrs. Amat Al Alim Al Soswah, Minister of Human Rights, attended, and praised the role and efforts of Girls World Communication Center (GWCC)in training and preparing them scientifically and professionally in many fields, including international languages, training and qualification that help create good job opportunities that contribute to improving the living standard of girls and enhances their societal participation in various areas of life.