International Honoree

GAMILAH GHALEB AL-SHARAI
Director of Programs and Projects Sector at Al Saleh Social Foundation for Development

"We were afraid, I have to admit, of how we were going to explain this to men. They began to ask questions and want information. This is the result when we involve men: they encourage their wives to go to the clinic."

In Yemen, Gamilah Ghaleb Al-Sharai brings family planning and equality to women within the context of Islam. It is not the limiting of children she promotes but the spacing of children, so that they can be breastfed for two years as advised in the Koran. Mrs. Ghaleb Al-Sharai also argues that education for girls upholds religious tradition. The effect is better health for the mother as well as her children.

Americans for UNFPA was pleased to honor Ms. Al-Sharai with our International Award for the Health and Dignity of Women in 2006 for her tireless efforts to provide access to health care, particularly family planning, to the women of Yemen.

For fifteen years, Mrs. Ghaleb Al-Sharai has directed the Yemen Family Care Association (YFCA). Much of her work is directed to areas where illiteracy is high and misconceptions about family planning prevail. In Yemen, women suffer extremely high rates of maternal mortality that care and education could prevent. Hers was the first non-government agency in the country to receive funding from UNFPA, and Mrs. Ghaleb Al-Sharai used the money to open new branches, train workers, and create mobile clinics.

At first, Mrs. Ghaleb Al-Sharai met opposition for openly promoting the use of contraceptives. Today, she is embraced in the rural areas where she works to protect the well-being of women and families. Her respect for religion and willingness to earn the trust of all members of the household has shaped a new awareness in Yemen of the value of women's health.

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