This indicator of an emerging democratic system provides a barometer of hope within Yemen. Hope that the president is doing more than paying lip-service to an ideal in order to pacify western eyes.

Women whole-heartedly participated in Yemen’s 2006 election as voters but were disappointed in their participation as candidates. There were 18,760 male candidates and only 137 females. There were no female presidential candidates and only 149 women ran for local councils compared to more than 20,000 men.
 That women participated in the election at any level is cause for celebration. And maybe, just maybe, the emergence of women’s rights in Yemen will prompt a rethinking of western attitudes toward female oppression in the Muslim world. The oppression of women seen in Afghanistan under the Taliban is not necessarily true for women in other parts of the Muslim community in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.
In my experience, Yemeni women have been catalysts for a re-awakening of gender equality in their homes, their communities and their workplaces. Gender jihad has been rejuvenating. Even the most darkly shrouded woman is capable of standing tall and purposeful.
According to Lamya Al-Sakkaf, a political science undergraduate student in Yemen, the term jihad means struggle. “Muslim women are struggling to establish a more egalitarian society in which they receive their full rights.
“I believe that women are reclaiming this word that has been used in a negative manner, especially after 9/11, and giving it a new more accurate meaning -- women struggling for equality in the home, work place and state, and therefore, performing the most holy of causes.”
Gender equality can also stimulate peace-building. Imagine gender jihad as a peaceful counter-balance to the bloodshed of fundamentalist jihad.
In the past few years, Yemen has joined with 17 Arab countries in signing or ratifying the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.
In Kuwait, as well as Yemen, quotas for women in political roles are being negotiated as a means to fast-track the absorption of women into political decision-making.
In Lebanon, labour laws have been reformed to afford women access and equality in the workplace. As a result, pregnancy can no longer result in job termination.
In Jordan and Palestine, violence against women is no longer an untouchable family matter. Judges are increasingly assuming a role in condemning honour killings. 
Students at Ibb University in Yemen are among those who think change is coming too slowly.
“Legislation and constitutional decrees protect women’s dignity, civil and political rights in principle,” they say. “But the cultural-social heritage and traditions clearly influence women’s reality. They are subject to many forms of violation.” Included are physical and psychological violence – “beating and humiliation by the husband and relatives, forced early marriage, forced delivery.” In addition, women may not be allowed to participate in family decision making.
The Ibb students are heartened by an emerging dialogue.
 “Government bodies and NGOs concerned with the violence… have increasingly worked in this field and conducted various awareness activities and programs highlighting this phenomenon…and its negative implications on women and the society as a whole,” they say.
One activity was the first National Conference on Violence Against Women in March 2004. At its conclusion, the conference issued a declaration emphasizing that a quota for women in political decision-making positions would form one of the most important methods to fight violence in Yemen.

During the last 20 years, growing access to education has been one harbinger of change for women. The result: Yemen’s medical, legal and other professional schools are bursting with female students. And these students are thriving, an achievement that has not gone unnoticed by Yemen’s president. At a recent graduation of medical doctors, President Saleh told the faculty’s male graduates that their female counterparts had set a higher scholarly pace.
Political leaders in Yemen encourage educated women to take their place. If a country is poor – like Yemen – its communities can hardly afford the luxury of educating citizens who are not able to apply their training for the benefit of locals. Yemen’s maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. When a female doctor is educated in Yemen, but does not practice, the entire society suffers.
Why are some Muslim government leaders sticking out their political necks to advance equality, and why now? Arab Human Development Reports, now authored by Arabs, provide a compelling case.  According to these reports, continued resistance to women’s economic and political emancipation unequivocally hinders many Arab country’s future progress.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reinforce this message. The goals include a commitment to eliminate gender discrimination and empower women; to improve maternal health and to achieve universal primary education. Canada’s Stephen Lewis, and others, condemn the world’s appalling failure to honour the MDG undertakings particularly as they relate to women.
Economic gurus concur. A recent Economist magazine opined: “The future of the world economy lies increasingly in female hands…Women remain perhaps the world’s most under-utilized resource”.

Globalization is also having an impact.  In even the most isolated communities in Yemen, girls are plugging into the internet and are increasingly aware of their options.
And most importantly, gender equality is not solely lodged within a legal or human rights framework in Yemen.  According to Rashida al-Hamdani, Chairperson of the Women’s National Committee, “My government and the culture both refer to Islamic values…Islam provided women with equal rights and the literate women are aware of such rights.”
Others echo Islam’s support for harmonization of the roles and responsibilities of men and women.
“Islam was the first actor that brought feminism into the Arab world…The Quran states that people should be treated equally regardless of anything. Nevertheless politicized religious movements have been drifting away from the essence of things addressed in the Quran and stressing more on unreliable sources to put women down for certain political agendas,” says Lamya Al-Sakkaf.
“I think that given the current wave of conservative religion, more voice should be given to progressive Islamic thinkers and leaders in Yemen who preach Islamic-based gender equality.”
And, many of the men in Yemen agree.
“Gender jihad is spiritually and culturally accurate,” says Dr. Al Karim Eryiani, former Prime Minister in Yemen and founder of Cultural Bridges, a Yemeni NGO focused on building cultural bridges to Yemen.  “The expression -- gender jihad – describes our struggle to combine religion and culture.”
Dr. Adel Mohammed Bahameed, executive director of the Al Awn Foundation for Development in Yemen, and a frequent speaker in the mosque, concurs.

“We speak of the role of woman under the Koran but we also need to speak about the rights of women as well.”
In November, Dr. Adel and I spent 5 hours in a 4X4 trek across the desert driving from the coastal city of Mulkulla to interior Seiyun. Most of our journey was spent discussing how to talk about “gender equality” in Yemen. The term is offensive to some in Yemen – it is seen as a western value. How could we reframe the issue of gender equality to encourage dialogue in Yemen?
After much deliberation, we agreed to define the quest as “jihad al mawadah” – “the internal struggle for respectful, nurturing, loving and harmonious relationships between man and woman.”
Harmony between men and women – that sounds like peace on earth. The kind of peace that women in Yemen are powerfully motivated to build.
In their recent election, the winning party’s slogans offered peace, security and stability. Dr. Adel echoes this view: “Women want safety, security and peace in their homes and for their children.”  
 “Women are not holding any arms while men are always armed with machine guns, pistols or daggers!” - Rashida al-Hamdani graphically points out.
Demographers predict that global stability is dependent on our ability to engage disaffected Muslim youth. (QUOTE?)  Yemeni mothers know this first-hand.
Yemen’s struggle to define equality between men and women may be enhanced by equal opportunity laws and international conventions. But, this movement is dependent on two conditions:
• First, gender rights and responsibilities must be clarified within Islam.  Men and women in Yemen must believe, in their hearts, that Islam supports harmonization between male and female. There are increasing numbers of Muslim females assuming a role in faith leadership. This feminine perspective on faith can be constructive in unsnarling gender dilemmas.
• And, second, the education of females in Yemen must be a national priority.  Self-confidence is a recognized barrier to gender equality in Yemen – even educated females lack confidence. There is wide consensus among Yemeni men and women that female education is key to replenishing the reservoir of female self-confidence in Yemen.
As students as Ibb University can attest, “…a well-educated woman will get her rights by herself.” 
Having educated mothers is even more critical: “A mother who has education will, with literacy, take better care of her children,” observes Dr. Adel Mohammed Bahameed.
Illiteracy rates for women in Yemen are very high – as high as 67 per cent, according to a May article published by IRN News. And, this is a barrier to gender equality. As Dr. Adel attests, “When female illiteracy rates are high, women don’t have choices; her choices aren’t known to her.”
But Dr. Adel is emphatic about the need to link faith and culture – “We must respect Islamic culture and allow women’s rights to emerge from within our culture.”
What can this look like?
During our trek through the desert, Adel introduced me to teachers and students at an all-girls school nestled in the remote valley of Wadi Do’an. At this school, girls’ registration had increased from 37 to 160 in a 2-week time period after the school separated boys and girls in the classrooms. Working with the culture, Adel and his Al Awn Foundation enable girls’ education.

Who will be the ultimate beneficiaries of gender jihad in Yemen?
 A Yemeni woman struggles not only for her own rights, but as well, for the rights of her daughters, her sisters and her female colleagues. All of Yemeni society will benefit. And, if harmonization between male and female can be achieved, the peace dividends could be felt across the globe. 

*Donna Kennedy-Glans: