Amal Basha (born: November 19, 1962) is a

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

i women's rights activist, chair of the Sisters' Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF). As the chair of SAF, she "defends the rights of women, prisoners and refugees, and fights for more political freedoms." Basha studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

and mass communication at the American University in Cairo. She holds an M.A. degree in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...

, from the National Institute of Administrative Sciences (NIAS), and

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

from Sana'a University and in international development and

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

from the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

, UK. She also has a license to practice law in her country. At an early stage in her career, Basha served in various economic positions in the Yemeni government, and was considered a leading personality in the field of recruiting

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...

for organizations from the third sector in Yemen. In April 2013 she publicly confronted Sheikh

Sadiq al-Ahmar Sheikh Sadiq bin Abdullah bin Hussein bin Nasser al-Ahmar ( ar, الشيخ صادق الأحمر; born 6 October 1956 ) is a Yemeni politician and the leader of the Hashid tribal federation. He succeeded his father Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar ...

in the conference hall of Yemen's

National Dialogue Conference The National Dialogue Conference (NDC) was a transitional dialogue process held at the Movenpick Hotel in Sanaa, Yemen from March 18, 2013 to January 24, 2014, as part of the Yemeni crisis reconciliation efforts. National Dialogue is a key part o ...

: Ahmar seemed to be backing away from appointing feminist Nabila al-Zubair as chair of the body deciding the future of the disputed city of

Sa'dah Saada ( ar, صَعْدَة, translit=Ṣaʿda), a city and ancient capital in the northwest of Yemen, is the capital and largest city of the province of the same name, and the county seat of the county of the same name. The city is located in the ...

until Basha gave him this "public flaying".Farea al-Muslimi
Yemen's National Dialogue is already faltering
, ''Executive Magazine'', April 16, 2013. She won the Takreem Arab Woman of the Year Award in 2014. In the same year (2014), the

Danish Institute for Human Rights The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) is a national human rights institution (NHRI) operating in accordance with the UN Paris Principles. The DIHR was originally established as the Danish Centre for Human Rights by a parliamentary decision ...

published its essay "The Discourse of Gender Equality in the Constitution of Yemen". In 2015 she spoke at the "Women's Power to Stop the War" conference (in Yemen). In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, she received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. As an 8 years old child she was married off and later managed to obtain a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

.Gareth's Guests: Luai Ahmed
Interview with her son Luai Ahmed
, December 5, 2023 (from 2:30 minute) Her son is Luai Ahmed, a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and columnist, who at the age of 21 managed to reach Sweden and received

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...

there, and later also Swedish

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

References

External links

Interview with Amal Basha, Chairperson of the Sisters’ Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF), Yemen
fidh.org, 7 March 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Basha, Amal Yemeni women's rights activists Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1962 births

See also

References

External links