Partnerships (Sharakat): Towards Inclusion of Young Men and Women in Decision Making

The Project aims at contributing to inclusive peace in Yemen by enabling civil society and bridging the gap between local (track III) and national (track II) actors to ensure better young men's and women’s inclusion in decision-making at local and national levels., which is the thematic focus and the overall goal of this project, young men's and women's inclusion will be strengthened through engaging and supporting civil society to play joint roles at local and national levels. Targeting three governorates (Taiz, Aden, and Hadramout), the project will target CSOs and initiatives representing and working on young men and women, linking them with other actors (local authorities, local and national decision-makers, and policymakers, political parties, CSOs, etc.) to jointly work addressing the challenges and issues facing young men's and women's leadership and influential roles. In its networking and capacity-building activities, the project will greatly address the problem of fragmentation of young men and women groups and the same can be achieved in addressing the young men's and women’s weak capacities. Addressing the problem of young men's and women's exclusion in leadership decision-making will be a long-term goal, which needs more related policies together with a political will. But, through addressing the fragmentation of young men and women groups and building the capacities, the project will enable young men and women to call for and advocate for having decision-making roles. Changing social customs is also a long-term goal but the project will make an important contribution to changing people’s attitudes toward women’s participation. In its bottom-up approach, the project's thematic focus on youth will contribute to addressing young women's issues too. But, a separate thematic focus on young women will be considered to ensure a gendered understanding of youth. The project is being implemented in the governorates of Hadramout, Taiz, and Aden, and mainly targets community members involved in youth and women community groups, local authorities, local civic actors, National actors, local and national decision and policy makers Yemeni CSOs. The main project partners are the Civil Alliance of Peace (CAP) and the Youth Peace and Security Pact (YPS- PACT).