Members of the Southern Transitional Council's Presidium, lawyer Niran Souqi, dupety chairman of the National Assembly, Dr. Suhair Ali Ahmed and Dr. Mona Bashraheel, met this morning, at the headquarters of the Southern Transitional Council, Dr. Magdalena Kirchner, Director of the Yemen and Jordan Office of the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

  In the meeting, in which Dr. Najwa Fadl, advisor to the Presidium of the Transitional Council for Women's Affairs, and head of the Higher Coordinating Committee for Civil Society Organizations, participated, the members of the Presidium welcomed Dr. Magdalena, reviewing the current situation in the south and the situation of southern women, especially before and after 1990, stressing that southern women in that era were present in all international, political and regional forums.

  During the meeting, they reviewed what southern women were subjected to after the war in 1994,  in terms of violations, marginalization and exclusion by the former northern regime, which marginalized them and prevented them from exercising their right to work and expressing their opinion freely.

  The members of the Presidium also indicated that all these violations that occurred to the south and its people suffered from, were the reason for the launch of the Southern Transitional Council, to lift it out of the dire situation it suffers from by rebuilding the institutions of the southern state and restoring the right of southern women to work, hold leadership positions and participate with her man brother in the political, economic and other fields, indicating that she has now become strongly present in all the departmenys of the Southern Transitional Council.

  For her part, Dr. Magdalena expressed her happiness with this meeting, thanking the members of the Presidium for the good reception and the sincerity of their presentation of the topics that were discussed, stressing that they, as an institution, have a working team in Yemen aims at supporting the democratic transition process in Yemen, by promoting the development process on the level of media freedom, societal justice, and dialogue between civil society institutions and the government, as well as expanding the circle of women's involvement in public life, developing their participation in planning and decision-making at the economic, social and political levels, and supporting and strengthening the integration of Yemen regionally and internationally.

 The meeting was attended by Aisha Talib, head of  Women and Children Committee in the National Assembly. On behalf of the Friedrich Foundation, Mahmoud Kayah, Acting Non-Resident Representative, Senior Program Manager, and Mayada Jamal Al-Baydani, Projects Manager.