Table showing the percentage of major and less serious offences against minor and adolescent girls for 2005

Less serious offences	Female crime victims by age	Total female victims	Percentage	Grand total
7 years	8 to 14 years	15 to 18 years
Attempted premeditated homicide	1	6	2	9	20	45
Indecent assault	3	4	5	12	57	21
Unintentional abuse	5	1	9	15	12.5	120
Total	9	11	16	36	19	186
Major offences
Premeditated homicide	3	8	3	14	14.4	97
Attempted homicide	8	10	8	26	21.2	212
Causing serious injury with intent	—	3	10	13	4	313
Attempted rape	2	2	1	5	45	11
Attempted fornication	—	1	1	2	100	2
Fornication	—	1	8	9	81.8	11
Rape	2	8	4	14	16.5	85
Kidnapping	—	2	3	5	35.7	14
Total	15	35	38	88	21	745

8.Marital rape is not known as a problem in Yemeni society: the issue is not discussed, women do not talk about it, instances are not reported and there is no such crime in the national legislation, whether in the Personal Status Act or any other law, perhaps because it has not appeared as a problem in need of legislative regulation. There is no specific legislation on violence within the family but the Penal Code does contain provisions on acts of violence, whether in the family or the community.

Trafficking in women and girls

9.The Supreme Council for Childhood and Motherhood is concerned about this matter and in its response to the comments made it referred to trafficking in women and girls. There are no data nor statistics on this matter, and the Council focused on the smuggling of children in general, taking as its starting point the basic principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In this report, we clarify information on the paragraph in question and on what has been achieved by the Government of Yemen concerning this phenomenon.

10.From a review and analysis of reports coming from the reception centre in Harad and of the conclusions of the study made in 2004, it appears that about 90 per cent of the children smuggled are employed as labourers or are used in goods smuggling operations and that the remaining 10 per cent are exploited as beggars in Saudi Arabia. During the journey, the children are exposed to a number of adverse social and psychological influences and face a number of dangers either on the outward or the return journey, or while they are in nearby areas beyond the frontier, or when they return to their own areas. According to the reports from the reception centre in Harad, 862 children, all of them boys, were received by the centre having been transferred by the Saudi authorities between the time when they began work in May 2005 and August 2006. The corresponding figure for 2007 was 622 children — also all boys. These numbers give an indication of the extent of the awareness of the community, of the gravity of this phenomenon and of the problems to which children may be exposed as a result of smuggling. A large number of measures have been taken.

1.The Joint Technical Committee should be drawn from the Yemeni-Saudi Arabian Coordination Committee and represent the authorities concerned in those countries at the same level.

2.Periodic reports on efforts to combat child smuggling should be submitted to the Yemeni-Saudi Arabian Coordination Committee.

3.A list with the names and positions of participants on the Saudi Arabian side should be obtained sufficiently in advance of the meeting to identify their correspondence group.

4.The conclusions of the meeting should be presented to the Council of Ministers for the necessary guidance and coordination should take place with those concerned in the international cooperation sector within the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

5.In case of any delay in signature of the memorandum of understanding, implementation of the joint study project should commence and the mechanism for handing over and receiving abducted children should be established, in view of its importance and the possibility that both could be implemented more effectively.

6.A national plan to combat child smuggling should be drafted with the cooperation of international experts in this domain. A workshop will be held to adopt and discuss the plan in mid-February 2008.

Studies

A field study on child smuggling, consisting of a case study of Hajjah and al‑Mahwit governorates, was conducted in 2004.

Two discussion sessions were held on the findings of the study and discussed with all the governmental and civil authorities and international organizations concerned, as well as with the official, national and foreign media.

Various programmes and activities to eliminate child smuggling have been conducted in accordance with the programme of action between the Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) since 2005.

Information and outreach

A number of outreach activities and programmes have been and are being implemented by the Supreme Council, in coordination with the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Human Rights, as follows:

Communication and outreach strategy addressing the problem of child smuggling at all levels, local and national;

Discussions and outreach sessions on television and radio and in the press on child smuggling, its dangers and means of avoiding them;

Televised discussions;

Broadcast of programmes and messages continuously in Hajjah and on a quarterly basis in Sana’a;

Publication of a number of newspaper articles and reports;

Production of a documentary outreach film on the problem of child smuggling for use in outreach to schools, families and targeted local communities;

Outreach campaigns at the local level in targeted regions and districts;

Participation of children in campaigns to raise awareness of the problem in some districts;

Outreach workshop allowing children themselves to discuss child smuggling and design a poster, using children’s drawings;

Efforts in coordination with Parliament to contribute to the elimination of child smuggling and obtain support and advocacy against child smuggling;

Issuance of publication with children’s drawings, under the banner “No to violence, no to smuggling”.

Legislative developments — security and judicial measures

Draft amendments to the laws related to the rights of the child have been prepared, bringing the legislation into line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international standards. Explicit amendments have been introduced to legal texts, criminalizing the smuggling of children and their exploitation for begging and sexual purposes and specifying penalties for perpetrators. A new, fourth chapter has been incorporated in the Penal Code, entitled “Crimes of child exploitation”.

Development and tightening up of security and judicial measures

The Ministry of the Interior has renewed monitoring and control measures at security points in cities adjacent to border areas; numerous attempts to smuggle children have been defeated before they reach the borders;

Children for re-evacuation are rounded up and issued with documentation and transferred to airports and border entry/exit points. In 2005, 510 children were transferred;

Stricter measures for the inclusion of children on the passports of adults have been introduced, in particular children from areas known for child smuggling. Prior to 2004, an average of 30 children were recorded annually; from 2005 to 2006, not a single case was recorded;

Ministry of the Interior offices handed over a number of persons accused of child smuggling to the Public Prosecutor and the courts. During 2004 and 2005, 94 such transfers were made;

Cases of child smuggling are dealt with on an urgent basis by the Public Prosecutor and the courts. A number of child smugglers have been sentenced to imprisonment for periods ranging from 6 months to 3 years. During 2005, there were 22 judgements against persons involved in child smuggling;

A consultation meeting was held during September 2006 in coordination with the Civil Affairs and Records Authority in order to discuss effective means of enhancing the births registration system and developing its mechanisms, thereby helping to eliminate the forging of the personal documents of children and smugglers.

Protection, psychological rehabilitation and reintegration of child victims of smuggling

A reception centre for smuggled children has been established at Harad and the necessary support, including furniture, equipment, staff and means of transport, has been provided;

A reception centre has been opened in the capital, Sana’a, for children returned via Sana’a international airport;

The centre runs a number of varied activities and programmes to assist and reintegrate smuggled children, by returning them to their governorates or their families;

The reception centre at Harad received support from the Al-Salih Foundation to enhance the effective participation of prominent civil society organizations involved in child protection programmes;

Child protection teams were created at the village level in the Aflah al-Sham district in Hajjah on an experimental basis, to be applied in other districts should it prove successful; a luxury sports centre for children was established in Aflah al‑Sham and the necessary equipment and facilities were provided, in order to contribute to raising awareness among local children and retaining them in the district.

Training, retraining and capacity-building of personnel involved in combating child smuggling

Ongoing training is provided to personnel working in the Harad reception centre for smuggled children;

Two training sessions have been held for police officers at border points on dealing with cases of child smuggling (40 officers);

A training session is provided for directors of homes for smuggled juveniles and children on psychological support for child victims of smuggling;

Various training sessions on social and security issues are provided to personnel involved in combating child smuggling.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Steps taken to secure approval of the Optional Protocol:

The Optional Protocol was submitted to the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence for consideration, prior to being submitted to the Cabinet, which agreed to forward it to Parliament;

The Optional Protocol was submitted to Parliament for debate and approval. The Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour contributed to the debate in the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Public Freedoms;

Once the Optional Protocol was approved and ratified by Parliament, a Presidential Decree was issued.

(A copy of the Sadiq decisions No. 5 is attached.)

Education and stereotyping

11.The Women’s National Committee is taking the lead, together with some civil society organizations, in raising awareness in accordance with gender methodology of the roles and responsibilities of men and women and the fact that these roles vary in different times, places and cultures. As a result of the movement to educate girls and involve them in public life as employees or participants in community activities, particularly in cities, women have started to assume these traditionally male roles and men have started to support the reproductive role through caring for children, a role formerly but no longer confined to women. Moreover, the political leadership and participation roles that were previously monopolized by men are gradually becoming accepted for women. With regard to the revision of school textbooks and curricula, changes have been introduced in a number of core subjects, namely, Arabic language, science, social studies and Islamic education. Additions specific to women have been introduced such as maternal health in science, the feminine pronoun in Arabic language where the masculine pronoun was previously the most common, and women pioneers in social studies and Islamic education.

With regard to the lack of access by rural women to justice, the previous response indicated that problems and disputes are resolved by customary law. In cases where the matter is not resolved, women may resort to the courts. However, because of poverty and their inability to bear the costs of litigation, as well as customs and traditions, women do not resort to the courts.

12.The basic education strategy includes five components, each of which comprises a set of objectives. The first component, the achievement of justice and equality, includes the following objectives:

1.Increase admission and enrolment rates for basic education. Ministry of Education data taken from the Annual Report on the Implementation of the Basic Education Development Strategy show that the rate of admissions in first grade rose from 80 girls per 100 boys in 2005 to 83 girls per 100 boys in 2006, an increase of three percentage points.

2.Increase gross enrolment rates. The data for 2006 show that the enrolment rate of girls in basic education was 61.74 per cent, in comparison with 81.65 per cent for boys. In the same year, there were 2,095 special needs students, of whom 50.17 per cent were girls.

3.Expend efforts on comprehensive education. This objective comprised a set of measures, including support for the education of girls and poor pupils. The Government participated through the education for girls sector within the Ministry of Education, in addition to a group of donors including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and the World Food Programme (WFP). Unfortunately, no consolidated statistics are available as each body publishes separate data.

The second component, quality improvement, comprised a set of measures, including the following:

I.Research and studies. Research was conducted in 2006 into the reasons for school dropout among girls in secondary education, the training needs of primary school teachers, and criteria for effective school management;

II.Training programmes. Training programmes targeted 90,254 male and female teachers. Women represented 19.07 per cent of total participants and for every male trainee there were 23 female trainees;

III.Quality improvement through the comprehensive development of education. The overall plan of the Ministry for 2007 was implemented in accordance with the budget on the basis of the following programmes: family incentives; infrastructure; development of administration at the school level; teacher development; teaching materials development. Moreover, a ministerial decision was issued on the establishment of a special committee for the review and development of the Public Education Act.

IV. School curricula .

1.Analysed the humanities curricula in basic and secondary education, in the light of the areas covered by the population education project;

2.Participated in compiling an in-service training manual for teachers working in basic and secondary education;

3.Prepared experimental tools for teachers’ manuals in kindergartens and supervised their application.

V.Measurement and assessment. There were numerous accomplishments in respect of measurement and assessment, including continued work on construction of the Measurement and Assessment Centre and the provision of furniture and equipment necessary for monitoring educational achievement. In 2005-2006, the Educational Research and Development Centre conducted the second survey on competency in core skills in basic education and prepared the general report, which was launched at a special workshop.

The Ministry focused on the third component, institution-building, through the following:

I.Training sessions and participation in conferences and workshops abroad (international, regional)

Item	Type of event	Number	Women (percentage of total)
Events		Participants
Men	Women
Workshops and seminars	Abroad	11	2 149	1 480	40.8
National	25	43	4	8.5
Subtotal		143	2 192	143	40.4
Ab r oad	Sessions	24	50	1	2
Seminars	30	48	1	9.5
Conferences	39	84	14	14.3
Total		236	2 374	1 503	39.6

It is clear from the above table that:

The highest percentage of female participation was 40.8 per cent in the workshops abroad, with 8.5 per cent in the national workshops, 2 per cent in the training sessions abroad, 9.5 per cent in the seminars and 14.3 per cent in the conferences abroad. This demonstrates the importance attached by the Ministry to women’s participation in the education sector, which encourages girls’ education.

II.Support for the Ministry’s professional capacity

The following have been implemented:

1.A comprehensive survey of data on education for the 2005-2006 academic year;

2.Phase 2 of the wages and salaries strategy;

3.Continued preparation of the secondary education strategy.

Table of professional support workshops and training sessions held in 2006

Topic	Number of participants	Females
Workshop on the development of education indicators for the primary education sector	17	2
First training session in statistics, data collection and extraction of indicators	25	0
Second training session in statistics, data collection and extraction of indicators	30	1
Third training session in statistics, data collection and extraction of indicators	—	0
Tota l	72	3

III.Legislation

The following have been implemented:

Decision No.	Subject of decision
2	Formation of a technical team to complete the medium-term results framework for 2006-2010
33	Formation of the preparatory committee for the annual review of implementation of the national basic education strategy
41	Formation of the supervisory committee to draft a secondary education development project
42	Formation of the working committees for the comprehensive 2005-2006 education survey
69	Formation of a supervisory committee and advisory team to develop the English language curricula for grades 4-12
73	Formation of a technical committee to coordinate, follow up and draft the secondary education development project
88	Formation of a team to oversee the educational manual for young people on reproductive health and AIDS
107	Formation of the higher committee for the celebration of Teacher’s Day 2005-2006
109	Formation of a Department of Education committee to draft the phased education plan for basic and secondary education
110	Formation of a committee to identify the needs of the Ministry of Education for education faculty graduates over the next five years
114	Adoption of the organizational structure of the Girls’ Education Department within the Ministry’s overall hierarchy
151	A committee to implement the basic education development project in the Republic’s governorates
188	Reconstituting the working groups implementing the national strategy for basic education development
253	Commissioning an expert consultants’ team for the implementation of the national basic education development strategy

IV.Consultative activities

10-year assessment of technical assistance in Ibb and Abyan governorates

Preparation of comprehensive national assessment of in-service teacher training programmes

Training for instructors in conflict management in the Department of Education

A study on girls’ education as part of preparation for the joint annual review

A study on the quality of girls’ education as part of preparation for the joint annual review

A study of issues relating to the Ministry’s capacities as part of preparation for the joint annual review

V.Working groups for implementing the national strategy for basic education development

A.Policies, Planning, Follow-up and Assessment Team

I.Planning, follow-up and assessment, including following tasks:

1.Establishment of a coordination and follow-up unit;

2.Establishment of a translation unit;

3.Review of the basic education development project, base year data and outcome indicators;

4.Preparation of an outline of 2007 expenditures for the Ministry plan.

II.Training sessions and workshops

a.Training sessions

20 training sessions have been held in administrative capacity-building in the technical office at the local and national levels, in which 254 men and women have participated.

b.Workshops

A number of workshops on follow-up, assessment and information systems have been held, with 60 participants

c.Outreach team

1.12 meetings have been held in the course of which the team’s tasks were discussed, its workplan mapped out, and its approach defined

2.Preparation of detailed plans for outreach programmes

VI.Girls’ education and social participation

The following table shows Girls’ Education Department programmes conducted in 2006 in the provinces (workshops):

Item	Target group	Place	Number of participants
Three workshops on incentives to attract women teachers to rural areas	The directors of the girls’ education support and social participation divisions of all the provinces	Al-Mahwit, al-Bayda’, Sayun	72 people overall (24 per workshop)
Three workshops to mobilize rural women teachers	Two rural women teachers and the girls’ education support divisions of all the provinces	Ibb, al-Hudaydah, al-Mukalla	72 people overall (24 per workshop)
Three consultative meetings to review school-related regulations and laws	The directors of the girls’ education support and social participation divisions of all the provinces	Ta`izz, `Imran, Abyan	72 people overall (24 per workshop)
Workshop to revitalize the role of the Ministry of Waqfs guidance directors in supporting girls’ education	Girls’ Education Department staff and provincial office directors	Al-Amana	32
Workshop to assess social participation activities	Provincial education office directors, the directors of the two girls’ education divisions, and the heads of the mothers’ councils of the following provinces: Sana’a, `Imran, al‑Dali`, al-Mahwit and Rimah	Al-Amana	49 people
Three workshops on conducting awareness campaigns	The directors of the girls’ education support and social participation divisions	Sana’a, Shabwah, Dhamar	68 people overall (22 per workshop)
Four workshops on increasing institutional capacities in the Department of Girl’s Education	Department staff and the directors of the girls’ education support and the social participation divisions of all the governorates	Al-Amana, Ma’rib, Hajjah, Aden	94 people
Two introductory workshops on the structure and functions of the Department on the national, governorate and district levels	The directors of the girls’ education support and the social participation divisions in the governorates	Al-Amana	86
Introduction to the structure and functions of the Department on the national, governorate and district levels	The directors of the girls’ education support and the social participation divisions in the governorates	Al-Amana	44
Two workshops to assess implementation of and review the social participation activities follow-up and assessment manual	Girls’ Education Department specialists, teaching instructors, the directors of social participation and a statistics instructor	Al-Amana	33
Four workshops to establish coordinating councils to support girls’ education	The girls’ education and social participation team	Hajjah, Ibb, Abyan, Ma’rib	175
A workshop to revitalize the structural and organizational environment and future vision of the Department of Girls’ Education	All governorates	Al-Amana	19
Two workshops to exchange experiences and assess social participation and girls’ education activities	Members of the fathers’ and mothers’ councils, directors of the social participation divisions’ schools, and representatives of Ministry departments	Al-Amana	32
Review of the fathers’ and mothers’ councils statute	Prominent personages and the fathers’ and mothers’ councils	Al-Amana	32
An awareness workshop on girls’ education and social participation	Department directors in education offices and the districts	Hajjah, Ma’rib	226
Two training workshops on the structure, mandate and approach to social participation of the Girls’ Education Department	Social work instructors	Hajjah, Ma’rib	81
10 meetings for the professional development of social work instructors	Social workers	Hajjah, Ma’rib, Ibb, Abyan	261
12 meetings for the professional development of focal point social workers		Hajjah, Ma’rib, Ibb, Abyan	2,586 (178 groups)

The following table shows Girls’ Education Department activities and programmes conducted in 2006 (training sessions):

Item	Target group	Place	Number of participants
Training session for social work instructors in ways of stimulating social participation, follow-up mechanisms, and education and training skills	Social work instructors in the governorates	Hajjah	24
Two training sessions to improve the performance of those working on the phase 1 training manual	The girls’ education support and social participation divisions	Al-Amana, al‑Dali`	62
Two training sessions to enhance the performance of those working on the phase 2 training manual	The girls’ education support and social participation divisions, some education support and social participation section heads, and some fathers’ and mothers’ councils	Al-Hudayda, Lahaj	42
Training in the new structure and mandate of the Department of Girls’ Education	Members of the social participation team and Department specialists	Al-Amana	19
Training of social work instructors	Social workers	Hajjah, Ma’rib, Abyan, Ibb	124
Social worker training	Social workers	Hajjah, Ma’rib, Abyan, Ibb	1,786
Four training sessions on stimulating social participation and improving girls’ education	Division directors and section heads in governorate and district education offices	Hajjah, Ma’rib, Abyan, Ibb	245
Training members of the mothers’ and fathers’ councils	Members of the mothers’ and fathers’ councils	Hajjah, Ma’rib, Abyan, Ibb	3,392, including 560 mothers

Fourth component: improving internal capacity

This is to be done by establishing more schools, improving the quality of education and increasing financial resources.

Fifth component: activities of the Illiteracy Eradication and Adult Education Organization

The Illiteracy Eradication and Adult Education Organization has implemented several activities recently, of which the most notable are:

Enrolment in illiteracy eradication classes: rates of female enrolment in illiteracy eradication and adult education programmes have risen to 87 per cent, as opposed to 13 per cent for men in the year 2006.

Enrolment in basic skills and women’s training centres: women’s enrolment has reached a total of 7,983 trainees.

1.Human capacity-building: Training has been conducted for 180 male and female supervisors, including 150 from the governorates, as well as for 1,176 male and female teachers.

Training has been conducted for 180 staff members of the Organization and its branches in the governorates.

A training session has been held for 145 directors of the training divisions.

2.Curricula for illiteracy eradication and adult education programmes: 10 textbooks have been designed for the basic and follow-up stages, entitled “Our Public Life”, “Our Economic Life”, “Our Social Life”, “Our Health Life”, as well as four educational guides for male and female teachers.

With regard to training and qualification programmes, 11 textbooks have been produced in accordance with the particular skills of men and women.

3.The media have implemented the following activities:

–Celebration of International Literacy and Adult Education Day on 8 January;

–Publication of an information booklet on illiteracy eradication and adult education activities;

–Dissemination of posters addressing the problem of illiteracy;

–Six television spots on the illiteracy problem, and five new ones;

–Daily reminders about the dangers of illiteracy in the two official newspapers (al ‑ Thawrah and 26 September).

4.Meetings and conferences:

–Regional seminar on Koranic schools with the support of UNESCO;

–Regional seminar on illiteracy in Middle Eastern States;

–Seminar on the problems of illiteracy eradication funding, with the support of the Islamic Organization.

Participation in political and public life and representation at the international level

14.Regarding the issue of women’s morality:

Issues of morality are unrelated to any rise or decline in women’s participation in political life. The decline in women’s participation in general is due to:

–Lack of men’s acceptance of women in decision-making positions (elected bodies);

–The flawed notion that politics is a male arena, which has played a role in the exclusion of women from political life;

–Lack of a binding law reflective of a firm political will to establish a quota for women in elective bodies. There are only “gentlemen’s agreements” among the political parties in that regard, which some parties do not abide by during elections;

–Women are subjected to pressures during elections that lead to their failure. Those pressures can come from their families or relatives or even from society.

15.The Women’s National Committee proposed the creation of the Coordination Committee on 27 September 2005 at a special meeting held with the political parties and civil society organizations concerned with women’s participation in political life. The Committee was formed on the basis of one of the recommendations made at that meeting. The Women’s National Committee proposed that the membership of the Coordination Committee should comprise the Women’s National Committee and all political parties and civil society organizations that had participated in the meeting inasmuch as the purpose of the Committee was to support women candidates in order to ensure their representation in elected bodies. The Committee was unable to become fully effective because it lacked the support it required in order to implement its plans. Only one programme was undertaken for Committee members. That programme, on the political empowerment of women, included some Committee members and was carried out under the supervision of the Women’s Bureau in the Supreme Commission for Elections.

The Women’s Bureau is a new office within the Supreme Commission and was established in 2003. The Bureau solicits support for the implementation of political programmes for women. It is concerned with all matters that are relevant to women in political life and has implemented a number of political programmes for women candidates and voters.

16.The proposal of the Women’s National Committee to amend legislation covering the Foreign Service is still being debated in Parliament. Please refer to the table below for information on the number of women appointed to posts of responsibility in the public administration, as compared to men.

Rank	Men	Women	Total
Ambassador	116	2	118
Minister Plenipotentiary	106	3	109
Counsellor	112	9	121
First Secretary	115	9	124
Second Secretary	27	2	29
Third Secretary	73	11	84
Diplomatic attaché	33	6	39
Administrative attaché	332	59	391
Total	914	101	1 015

17.In respect of citizenship, article 15 bis has been amended. That article provided that, in the case of a Yemeni woman married to a foreigner who has left her to care for the children she had borne him or where the woman has become responsible for supporting those children as result of the husband’s death, insanity or absence or his ceasing to reside with them for a period of at least one year, those children will be treated as Yemenis in all respects, so long as they remain with their mother until they attain the age of majority. Those who have attained the age of majority have the right to acquire either Yemeni citizenship or the citizenship of their father’s country.

18.The proposal to amend article 14 of Executive Charter 47 (1991) was rejected because that charter is an implementing regulation and not a law. As such, it must be amended by the Prime Minister.

The draft had also proposed increasing the residency requirement for alien husbands from two years to five years. However, the legal team did not propose an article that would allow a Yemeni woman to transmit her citizenship to her alien husband.

19.Although the law is clear, it has not been implemented because women are unaware of this right that is granted to them under the Labour Code and employers have not been asked to provide these facilities. Moreover, as most businesses do not employ large numbers of women, the law does not apply to them. The Directorate-General for Working Women of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour will implement an awareness-raising programme on the rights of working women in a number of Governmental and non-governmental agencies.

20.The current five-year plan has set an annual target rate of 5 per cent for working women.

Health

21.Among the goals of the Population Working Programme were to:

•Decrease maternal mortality and morbidity by at least 5 per cent;

•Decrease infant mortality to 55 deaths per 1,000 live births;

•Decrease the under-5 mortality rate to approximately 74 per 1,000 live births.

A number of measures have been taken in order to implement the Population Working Programme, as shown in the following tables:

Table 1Reproductive health and family planning

	2001		2002		2003		2004		2005	Overall success rate of programme
Characteristics and indicators	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual
Percentage of pregnant women with access to maternal health services	40	34	45	39	50	41	55	42	60	42	70
Percentage of medically supervised births	27	15	30	20	34	25	37	13	40	26.7	67
Percentage of married women of childbearing age using family planning methods	23	19	24	21	25	23	27	23.1	28	23.5	84
Percentage of women using modern family planning methods	14	10	16	12	18	13	20	15	23	15.4	67

Table 2Child health

	2001		2002		2003		2004		2005	Overall success rate of programme
Characteristics and indicators	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual
Percentage of children receiving comprehensive vaccinations	70	59	75	61	80	67	85	68	90	52	62
Percentage decrease in incidence of diarrhoea in children under 5	27	29	26	28	25	29	24	24	23	29	—
Percentage of children treated with rehydration fluids	40	30	45	30	50	36	55	45	60	31	52
Percentage decrease in the incidence of severe respiratory inflammation in children under 5	20	21	18	18	16	20	14	16	12	20	—

Table 3Increase in reproductive health facilities (Ministry of Public Health and Population)

	2001		2002		2003		2004		2005	Overall success rate of programme
Characteristics and indicators	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual
General hospitals	112	105	121	105	136	130	144	139	152	201	84%
Availability of reproductive health services	75	77	90	85	110	110	140	115	152	128
Health centres	793	500	793	500	803	515	808	551	814	551	66%
Availability of reproductive health services	278	250	317	297	363	300	404	323	488	369
Health units	1 514	—	1 584	—	1 734	1 780	1 894	1 866	2 034	1 866	67%
Availability of reproductive health services	250	—	320	—	440	640	660	535	1 000	669

Table 4Increase in the reproductive health facilities of the Family Welfare Association

	2001		2002		2003		2004		2005	Overall success rate of programme
Characteristics and indicators	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual
Reproductive health complexes and birthing centres	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	100%
Installed facilities belonging to the Association	6	6	6	6	7	7	8	8	9	7	90%
Mobile service units	80	80	100	100	120	120	140	140	160	140	88%
Subsidized non-governmental centres	225	225	230	230	235	245	240	240	240	161	80%

Table 5Increase in the reproductive health facilities of the Social Reform charitable society

	2001		2002		2003		2004		2005	Overall success rate of programme
Characteristics and indicators	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual
Hospitals	5	5	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	100%
Installed facilities belonging to the Society	12	12	14	14	15	15	30	30	35	30	88%
Mobile service units	10	10	12	12	15	15	15	16	18	16	88 %

Section II, article 5 of the safe motherhood project, on the protection of women prior to marriage, prohibits all forms of female genital mutilation and prohibits individuals as well as health facilities and those working in such facilities from doing so, under threat of punishment. Parliament will debate the project in February, according to a member of the health and population committee of Parliament. That member also said that the project was on the agenda of Parliament for the current session.

22.No detailed, current information is available on female circumcision in Yemen and there are no new studies; the old study dates from 1999.

The draft law on female circumcision proposed by the Supreme Council for Childhood prohibits female circumcision and considers it an assault on the physical integrity of the body falling under the provisions of the Penal Code. Studies on domestic violence have been prepared.

23.The Government still does not have sufficient data on disabled women, particularly those in rural areas. Efforts in this regard have been limited in relation to the extent of the problem.

Marriage and family relations

24.The Women’s National Committee pressed hard to have this article removed from the Penal Code. However, the legal team’s draft amendments proposed a lesser penalty, commensurate with that imposed on men, for women who commit the same offence.

25.A number of amendments to the Personal Status Law were proposed, in particular with regard to polygamy, divorce, testimony and inheritance, which are governed by the Islamic sharia.

26.Despite the sound legal basis of such marriages, studies have proven that they are fragile and short-lived. The relevant authorities, in particular the Ministry of the Interior, have attempted to curb this type of marriage in order to protect the rights of Yemeni girls by requesting approval from the diplomatic missions of the countries of the prospective husbands. In addition, civil society organizations have implemented a number of awareness-raising activities on the negative effects of such marriages.

27.The Women’s National Committee and the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood proposed that the age of marriage be changed. The proposal was approved by the Ministry of Legal Affairs, forwarded to the Cabinet and then on to Parliament, where it is being discussed by a specialized committee of Parliament prior to its submission during the current session.

28.Efforts to ratify the Optional Protocol have been unsuccessful. However, the Women’s National Committee and its civil society partners will continue their efforts to have the Optional Protocol ratified.