SANAA, 9 March 2008 (IRIN) - Yemeni women, especially those living in rural areas, continue to have high illiteracy rates, insufficient medical care and face gender discrimination, specialists said at an event held in Sanaa on 8 March to mark International Women's Day 2008.

Lack of education was seen as the driving factor behind women's gender inequality in Yemen.

The National Women Committee (NWC), a government body, presented a draft report on the status of women at the event. Entitled Women's Status from a Gender Perspective 2007, the report said 51 percent of girls aged 6-14 were not enrolled in elementary schools.

"This high dropout rate would represent a fertile source for illiteracy. There is no law to make education obligatory and free for all age groups," the report said.

According to NWC, the report will soon be released officially.

The report added that the rate of enrolment for girls in elementary schools was 54 percent compared to 72 percent for boys. Linking the rate of female school dropouts to insufficient numbers of female teachers, the report said there were some 44,000 female teachers in the country compared to about 146,000 male teachers in the 2005/6 academic year.

60 percent of Yemeni women illiterate

Rashida al-Hamdani, head of NWC, told IRIN on 8 March that illiteracy among women remains prevalent, standing at 60 percent and although there was seriousness on the part of the government to eliminate illiteracy, what was lacking was a sense of urgency.

"Eliminating illiteracy may not be achieved in the near term; the resources are still not enough," she said. The number of women who are aware of their rights is limited, she added, putting the number between 10 to 20 percent.

"Doors are open to women and [they] can achieve their ambitions if they make the effort, but sometimes social traditions are a hurdle in their way," she said.

Weak female political participation

The NWC's draft report said women's political participation in Yemen was weak. In 2007, there were 229 women in senior government posts compared to 7,546 men. There is only one female in the country's 301-seat parliament, and two in the Shoura Council, which seats 111. In the local councils, there are only 37 female members and 7,000 male members.

The report said the high illiteracy rate and low level of education among women was curbing awareness of the importance of women's participation in political activities.

"Government support for women's activities is weak... there is fear among [official] circles that international forces would use gender issues to create internal conflict in the country and family disintegration," the report said.

Maternal mortality still high

Nafisa al-Jaifi, head of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, a government body, said during the function that maternal and infant death rates are among the highest in the region. "Out of 100,000 live births, 365 women die for a variety of reasons," she said.

According to the NWC report, about 40 out of 100 live births in urban areas take place in health facilities, while in rural areas only 17 out of 100 do, the rest taking place at home. The report added that for every 100 male doctors there are only 41 female doctors in public sector health facilities and just 34 in the private sector.

The status of women in Yemen has long been poor. Last year, the impoverished Arabian nation ranked bottom of 128 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report. Published by the World Economic Forum, the report examined four critical areas of inequality between men and women: economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; political empowerment; and health and survival.

maj/ar/ed

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