News - Yemen: President Mahdi Al-Mashat praised the great role of Yemeni women in facing the aggression and their steadfastness for the eighth year in a row. He stressed that they are an integral part of building society in various health, educational, developmental and other fields.

Mashat’s remarks came during his meeting on Tuesday with member of Ansarullah Political Bureau Dr. Halima Jahaf and a number of women leaders.

They discussed the importance of women's role in confronting the US-Saudi aggression, as well as in the developmental, educational and health fields, and the difficulties and challenges they face.

President Mashat pointed to the importance of the developmental role of women in the advancement of society to achieve self-sufficiency, and to benefit from the experiences of other societies in line with the faithful identity of the Yemeni people.

He pointed to the attempt by the enemies of the Nation to target women under the headings of equality and others. He stressed that Islam views women and men as one entity, and the roles differ within the framework of responsibility towards the Nation and its issues.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and its other regional allies, launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015. The eight years of war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure. Yemeni people are facing malnutrition, hunger, and famine, which have increased risks of disease and starvation.

The US-Saudi aggression and siege on Yemen, which led to poverty, hunger and economic crisis, have been severely affecting the lives of Yemeni people over the past seven years. Around 80% of the Yemeni population require some form of humanitarian or protection assistance, this means 24 million people, including 14.3 million in acute need.

Yemeni women have had and still have strong roles in confronting aggression and have proven to the world that they are great with their dedication, giving, patience and steadfastness.

Despite the great psychological and moral damage suffered by Yemenis in general, and women and children in particular, Yemeni women are a great legend of giving and sacrifice. They have a fundamental role in Yemeni society and at home in particular.

The great Yemeni woman does not end her giving, but rather she is the origin of jihad and giving. In addition to giving her sons to fight in frontlines, she stood and supported men, and turned into a revolution and a volcano in the face of the aggressors. She donated her jewels, money, effort and energy to supply the fronts with caravans of provisions and food, and in large quantities, and she was a partner in making victory and steadfastness.

The women's sectors in government institutions and civil organizations have also played a greater role in immunizing society from the soft war and the shady ideas promoted by the aggression to target Yemeni society after it failed to defeat Yemen by force of arms.

Over the past years, Yemeni women have made every effort to prove their presence in society, through their involvement in many productive work, social, awareness and relief activities.

Many women have also adopted new and innovative projects, most of which are accomplished in homes, such as handicrafts, and bakeries for the manufacture of pastries, bread, sweets, clothes, accessories, perfumes, incense and other products that are sold to shops or directly in neighborhoods and public markets, especially in the capital, Sana’a.

While many scientifically qualified women work in private educational institutions, kindergartens, hospitals and health centers, the less educated groups join sewing laboratories, sweets factories and various foodstuffs, which allocate special sections for women.

At the level of rural Yemen, the role of women has been enhanced in agriculture, production, pastoralism and livestock breeding, which provides an important economic resource for many Yemeni families in Yemeni villages and rural areas, which constitute 73 percent of the country's population, according to the 2004 census.