Muhammasheen

This report examines the implementation challenges facing organizations supporting women’s economic participation in Yemen. It explores how interventions can be strengthened to foster change in social norms and household dynamics, rather than simply provide short-term income for women. It argues that the short-term nature of international assistance is severely hindering Yemeni women’s economic empowerment and that a strategic shift in…

The Muhammasheen, meaning “the marginalized,” is an ascriptive term designating a group of Yemenis who were traditionally called Al-Akhdam (literally meaning “the servants”). Membership in this ethnic minority is hereditary, associated with certain types of occupations, and in traditional Yemeni social structures its members are considered ‘weak’ and lacking origins, therefore ostensibly under tribal protection. There are strong cultural prohibitions…