She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.
Raqiya Humeidan was the first woman in Yemen and the Arab Gulf region to become a lawyer. Born in 1947 in Aden, she graduated with a BA in Law from the University of London in 1971, and the following year obtained a Masters in Law, from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSEPS). She is currently a private barrister and is also a renowned legal consultant and advisor for the World Bank. For the last 24 years, Humeidan has been working hard as a lawyer and legal advisor for the Yemeni Supreme Court. She was the first woman lawyer in Yemen and the Arab Gulf region, and she has represented her country in many regional and international legal conferences. Throughout her career as a lawyer in Yemen, one of the developing countries where female illiteracy stands at around 75%, Humeidan has maintained a prominent profile and continued to defend women’s rights. Her unwavering stands have earned her popularity allover the country and have accredited her to be nominated for the membership of the Higher Committee for the 1993 parliamentary elections … (On 1000peacewomen 1/2).
The first woman in Yemen to become a lawyer, Raqiya Humeidan is an English-educated practitioner who has held significant positions in the Yemeni government, including legal adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the National Council for Foreign Trade. She is “a highly respected and very skilled lawyer” running a successful practice in business law (in General Business Law, Band 2, mentionned on Chambers and Partners).
She is named in ‘Exceptional Gulf Women‘ about the 1000peacewomen project.
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sorry, no photo found for Raqiya Humeidan, Yemen
She works for the Advisory Committee to the Ministry of Human Rights ACMHR; for the Yemen Advocates Union YAU; and for the Arab Association for Supporting Women and Juvenile Issues AASWJI, (no website found for any of these three organizations).
She is named as political heroe, (their homepage).
ADEN, Yemen, Feb 24 (Reuters) – When Islamists criticised a concert by a Syrian woman singer in Yemen’s port city of Aden this month, disaffected southerners took it as yet another slight from their more powerful northern cousins. Troops and police guarded the half-empty stadium when Asala took the stage, braving a reported threat from al Qaeda to stop the show, but she sang into the early hours with no disruption. Still, the verbal sniping by Islamist parliamentarians from the north left a sour taste for many in the sleepy southern city, where performances by Arab pop stars are a novelty. « They’ve had concerts in Sanaa and Taiz and Hodeida before. Nobody opened his mouth, » said Raqiya Humeidan, a woman lawyer, referring to northern cities. « Why is it different in Aden? » Far less trivial grievances are fuelling discontent here, where many are once again querying the value of the 1990 union between the Marxist-led south and the tribal-dominated north … (full text).
She says: … « They took our lands, our jobs and our wealth … We all feel they treat us with hate. So people are saying: If that’s what you mean by unity, we don’t want it » … (quotes).
Trotzig gab die syrische Sängerin Asala Nasri ihr Konzert im Stadion der südjemenitischen Hafenstadt Aden – obwohl Islamisten und angeblich El-Kaida ihr massiv gedroht hatten. Ihr Auftritt sei unmoralisch und widerspreche der Sharia, hieß es zur Begründung. Die forsche, in einen westlichen Hosenanzug gekleidete Anwältin Raqiya Humeidan ist erbost: « Warum dürfen wir in Aden kein solches Konzert haben? Warum hatten sie Konzerte in Sanaa, in Hadramawt und in Hodeida? Nur in Aden nicht. Alles in Aden muss anders behandelt werden » … (ganzer Text).
(On 1000peacewomen 2/2): … Throughout her life she wrangled with the Yemenite authorities because of her openly critical views, but she always remained steadfast in her positions. She worked hard to achieve peace in her community, about which she says: “Our definition of peace is the same as our definition of humanity.
We would not be able to achieve peace until justice and equality prevail among people, regardless of gender, religious or political considerations.” She drafted hundreds of legal contracts in various respects, and has represented hundreds of clients (companies, public institutions, foreign bodies and individuals) before Yemeni courts. She has been a prominent consultant for the World Bank in the Resettlement Plan and Social Assessment Study.
From July 1973 to March 1980 Humeidan worked in various crucial positions in the Yemenite government and in the private sector. She worked as a Legal Advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a member of the Attorney General’s Chamber in the Ministry of Justice, and the Legal Advisor of the National Council for Foreign Trade. She conducted several studies on various legal national and international topics, such as phrasing and revising the draft bills of law and presidential and ministerial resolutions.
Humeidan has participated in the International Visitor Program of the United States Information Agency on ‘The Rule of Law’ in 1993. She has also been involved in a program on the US Court System sponsored by the National Center for State Courts in August 1999. She has conducted many studies on various national and international legal issues, revised drafts of legislation and governmental resolutions, negotiated commercial contracts with international companies on behalf of corporations, and provided legal advice to national and international bodies and persons on various legal issues. Humeidan was deputized as an expert to talk about Yemeni Law before the British High Court in London and at an international arbitration tribunal in Northern Ireland. (1000peacewomen).
Sorry, no other files found in english in the internet for Raqiya Humeidan, Yemen.
links:
South Africans Vote in Local Elections, 1995;
Just memories for company, 7 pages;
NDI report of the National Democratic Institute, 16 pages.