Yemen 24: A Webblog about Yemen

By: Moneer Al-Omari Several warships and launches are deployed to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean under the pretext of fighting the Somali pirates and protecting commercial ships that pass by.  Piracy activities have long been a headache for international navigation in the Gulf of Aden, which is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and connects Asia and Europe.  Ships and tankers sailing through the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab Strait, passes by the lawless Somalia, which has been without an effective central government for the last 17 years. This situation helped pirates to work freely off Somali shores and in the international waters.  The Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau has recorded over 60 attacks by pirates during this year, the last of which was capturing a Ukrainian ship boarding heavy military hardware and tanks said to be shipped to the government o...

By: Moneer Al-Omari Qat badly affects health; however, there has been no systematic study into the risks of Qat on health. It was revealed recently that Qat treated with pesticides is a key factor in the increased numbers of cancer in Yemen.  Specialists reveal that there are over 20,000 cases of cancer in Yemen and the number is on the increase. Again, they could not deny that Qat is directly connected with new diseases that were unknown before, partly because of using hazardous pesticides to make speedy growth of Qat leaves.  However, this report relates to the Qat economies and how it badly affects the country's economic plans and water reserves, especially when over seven million Yemenis chew Qat and the number increases rapidly. New numbers of women and children join the list of Qat chewers. It is estimated that one third of Yemenis chew Qat and spend, on average, six hours per day. Similarly, an...

By: Moneer Al-Omari As early as July, thousands of scholars held a grand gathering in Sana'a and aimed at promoting and establishing an authority for protecting virtue and combating vice in Yemen after they felt that virtue and morals were in danger. They authority was named Virtue Promotion and Vice Prohibition Authority.  Announcing the establishment of the authority was widely criticized by thinkers, journalists, intellectuals and women, especially when they considered this authority to be a watchdog on people. What is of concern here is the unhappiness of women.  Further, Parliament, on August 18, rejected a bill of controversial amendments to the election law, underscoring escalating tension between the ruling party – the General People Congress and opposition parties represented in Joint Meeting Parties (JMP). Women unsatisfied This attitude by the Virtue Authority and the disagreement am...

By: Moneer Al-Omari Prices of food staples in Yemen have increased over the last two years 40 percent more than  the international level increase, and these increases have overshadowed the lives of poor and limited-income citizens, according to a recent study. Statistics of the Central Statistics Organization for the period stretching between September 2006 (the time of the Presidential elections) and December 2007, surprisingly shows that there has been no change in the price of bread, while it is generally known that the bread loaf price doubled, as the loaf of bread became half in size of what it used to be in that period.  Months later, the price increased even more, while making the bread’s size bigger for the meantime. A loaf of bread bought in the past for YR 10 is bought now for YR 20 and fixed rates were assigned by the Ministry of Trade and Industry as for the weight and the price of bread in the c...

By Moneer Al-Omari In its 2007 report, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum ranked Yemen the last (128) as to the Global Gender Gap and estimated the gap in overall rankings to be 45 percent.  The report measures the volume of the gap between women and men in four areas: economic participation and opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment and health and survival. With exception to United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, the performance of Arab countries remains low and needs more activation. "Most Arab world countries not only continue to perform far below the global level, but also do not show much improvement over the last year or have deteriorated," said the report.   Women and economy The report indicated that women's participation in labor force is 31 percent; however, observers believe the report is inauthentic and does not reflect the reality because Yemeni woman has achiev...

Moneer Al-Omari According to a recent study by the Yemeni Polling Center (YPC), many socio-cultural hindrances including lack of equality, customs prevent the full integration of women into the society and their advancement in public life and Yemen's democratic and political project; however, most obstacles are not inherited, but rather alien to the society.  The study addressed numerous aspects including marriage, divorce, custody and other social and political rights. It was conducted on 434 citizens divided in half to males and females in four governorates: Sana'a, Ibb, Aden and Hadramout. The respondents were chosen from different educational backgrounds and different age groups. Majority of Yemenis condition that both proposed couple should make a medical test in order to ascertain the other party's fitness before marriage, considering it to be an important reason for a happy marriage. There have been varied reasons fo...

By Moneer Al-Omari SANA'A, June 19 - Agricultural and pest control officials told media outlets of a desert locust outbreak in Marib and Al-Jawf after it was confined to Al-Mahrah and Hadramout governorates and to a lesser degree in Shabwa governorate. However, such allegations were denied by the general director of the Desert Locusts Control Center, Abdu Al-Rumaih who noted that his center's field committees recorded only single cases of some locusts, but not in swarms. Al-Rumaih added that the field teams surveyed many areas in Marib and detected single cases of locusts in Al-Falag, with 66 locusts in each hectare. The same finding applies to the Al-Zunimah area, an area planted with grains and fodder, with a lower percentage than recorded in Al-Falag. Similarly, locals in Marib denied information by official experts, declaring that locusts exist in a very small percentage. Marib Press reported many locals in Marib as saying, "Their governorate is not afflicted...