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In the dozen conflicts and warzones where Lise Grande has worked, she says women s right have been marginalised, neglected or entirely forgotten.
Before becoming President and CEO of the US Institute for Peace in December last year, Ms Grande served as UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the world’s worst place for women: Yemen.
“Since the war started, 80 per cent of the population have been hurt but those hurt the most are women … Women are a million times worse off because of the war. They have lost access to food, access to the political sphere, access to education and access to healthcare,” she told
Huda Abed Al Rahman has not seen her brother in five years.
She lives in Gaza with her elderly father, who is unwell. After a long wait, she recently made plans to visit her sibling in the UAE, where he lives.
But Ms Al Rahman, 27, is one of many whose freedom will be curtailed under a Hamas edict barring women from leaving the enclave without the permission of a male relative.
The edict, issued by the Hamas-led Sharia Judicial Council, said an unmarried woman may not leave Gaza without the permission of a “guardian”. Such consent would have to be registered in court.
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Women in Bahrain’s Civil Defence are preparing to take the next step towards becoming fully-fledged firefighters.
The Ministry of Interior is working to increase the number of women in its employment, which currently stands at 12.5 per cent.
When she joined the force, Aisha Al Yasi’s basic firefighting training showed her what her future in might look like.
“The breathing equipment is very heavy and training requires physical strength,” she says.
But Ms Yasi is keen on making the cut to join the country’s first generation of women joining their male counterparts on the firefighting ground.
With a degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering, working in the Civil Defence’s protection and safety department might be in her ballpark, albeit in a male-dominated field that is might not be every woman’s first career-choice.