Enhance the capacity of Female Police in Yemen: Mainstreaming a gender-based approach within the law enforcement I. Introduction
In November 2018, a contract (reference No. AVT16/BZ120646A) was signed between the state of Netherlands, represented by the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, legally represented by the Ambassador of Yemen and Penal Reform International to implement a project titled “Enhance the capacity of Female Police in Yemen: Mainstreaming a gender-based approach within the law enforcement”. 
The project overall goal is to Enhance peace and security efforts in Yemen through building the capacity of the female police unit at the MOI.
Through achieving the following outcomes.   
1)	Female police officers in the female police unit are better able to maintain law and order according to human rights standards and rules of administration of justice. 
2)	A gender sensitive approach in the work of MoI is mainstreamed through improved safeguards for female police officers.
3)	Barriers to women reporting crimes are removed
4)	Improved international standards and best practice in ensuring equal opportunities for women in the police force
The target groups of this project are MOI, 700 female police officers that were hired by the governement in the South, and the Police Academy. While the  final beneficiaries of the project are: society at large in Yemen, with a focus on vulnerable groups including women, children,  marganlised groups, that will benefit from the presence of  well trained women police officers. 
To achieve the overall goal and the specific results of the project, PRI worked closely with relevant governmental stakeholders including (MOI, female police unit affiliated to the family protection department at MOI); Kindly see Annex No. 1 “MoI- PRI MoU governing the project implementation”. PRI has a strong partnership with the MoI and our contact person for the project from MoI side is the Deputy Minister, colonel Ali Lakhshaa, who provided full support to the project work and activities.  This working relation was governed by the project theory of change outlined below in Figure No.1.  which illustrates the sequence of events, activities and interventions taken within the course of the project, and how they contribute to achieving the project goal.    
In March 2021, PRI requested a cost extension for the project which focused on consolidating the work achieved by the project in the initial phase and had contributed to overcome the delays that took place due to the war, COVID and the weather. The extension focused on supporting the establishment and sustainability of the female policy academy through delivering trainings to a new cohort of the female police officers , and advocate for their hiring within all police departments. 
The report will be divided into two sections, section I Project Problem Statements and Political Overview, and Section II Achievements of Project Results and Activities. 
Section I: Problem Statement and Political Overview:
This section will include a brief account of the political situation in Yemen; it shows the degree to which those political conditions have affected the project implementation.
Since the war started in 2015, the political and security situation in Yemen continued to be a major challenge for the criminal justice system. The ongoing instability in Aden and the southern governorates, and the clashes led by different groups including Al-Qaeda, and the Southern separation council against the official government caused a challenge and slowed down the implementation of the project activities, but despite that the MoI continued to express their full political support for the project and its objective and their determination to deploy female police to serve in several locations with the aim of facilitating justice delivery and enhancing the access of females to the police as part of their international commitments and image. 

A closer scene of the political situation in Yemen, showed a very volatile and unpredictable situation due to the active armed conflict and clashes between the internationally recognized government (IRG) and the transitional council (TC). The clashes started in March 2020 and continued till the month of Ramadan. In addition to natural disasters that encountered the country, heavy rains, and flooding which started in mid-April 2020 continued across the country. Flooding has damaged roads, bridges, and the electricity grid, and contaminated water supplies, cutting access to basic services for thousands of people. In Sana’a, flooding caused widespread disruption to services as the city was overwhelmed by floodwaters. In Aden, power cuts have continued since the floods in April, causing a heightened risk of diseases such as malaria and cholera. 

Similar to other countries around the world, Yemen has been suffering from the impact of COVID-19, yet with a magnified effect or impact, due to the effect of the war on the Yemeni health system, as years of war has shattered the country's health system, leaving it incapable of coping with a pandemic. Many of Yemen's medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed in air strikes, and only half are thought to be fully functioning. Clinics are reported to be crowded, and basic medicines and equipment were lacking - in a country of 27.5 million people there are only few hundred ventilator machines. COVID-19 had also an impact on slowing down the work, where the work on renovating the police academy had to stop due to the pandemic and the lockdown forced by the authorities, training workshops had to be suspended till the lockdown is left. 

During the extension period of the project-(March 2021-March 2022), continuous  conflicts and clashes between the international recognized government (IRG) and the transitional council (TC) lead to the transfer of some Ministers from Aden to Sauon to work form there, as the case of the minister of interior, which affected the services delivered by the ministry in Aden, such as the delay of the official decree announcing the female police academy as a branch for the Police academy, and the suspension of the monthly salaries of employees of the Ministry of Interior, including female police officers, and not being able to allocate a budget for the female police academy as part of the annual police budget. All these circumstances affected the ability of the female police officers to be deployed as required after their participation in the training delivered throughout the extension phase. 

Challenges faced by Female police in Yemen: 
Based on  PRI’s Interviews with the female police officers enrolled in PRI capacity building interventions during the first year of the project,  the female officers have expressed that they have experienced previous to the project many setbacks because of the lack of training due to lack of resources allocated to them, and as Yemen is a conservative society,  they didn’t give much attention, or chances to the fact that women police needed continuous training, in addition to the need to expand their opportunities through enrolment and through on the job practical training, and theoretical knowledge which would help them increase their ranks to be leaders in the police forces . The need for the police academy to be built and maintained was a high expectation needed to compensate for the lack of experience and knowledge that the women police force faced. Some Officers felt left out and felt that they were not given the equal right of men to perform their tasks, and duties, yet they remained excited, and eager to earn knowledge, and gain experience to perform at their highest capabilities in order to serve their country, and their cause of equality. The trainings organized by PRI as part of this project provided them with a good head start, but the continues need for extra knowledge and training skills is still an obstacle due to the lack of resources.

Theory of change 
The project theory of change was affected by the political challenges, natural disasters and the impact of COVID-19, and some changes needed to be introduced at the outcomes level to response to that. The original plan was that the project targets all of the 700 police officers, however, due to the delays in finalizing the academy that was impacted by the ongoing conflict and the division at the government level in Aden, the floods, and the COVID-19, not all the 700 officers were able to benefit from the training, only 400 officers, were the final beneficiaries. However, due to the difficult financial situation that the government in Aden was facing, more financial support will be needed till the academy is able to function smoothly and based on annual plan. The logic behind the initial theory of change is still valid and follow the logic and the project approach that was chosen when the project started. It worth to mention that the project team have a process of continuous revision of the theory of change and the risks on the ground and acted on adopting mitigating factors that aimed at reducing these risks to achieve the results of the project and its outcomes. However, the political situation and all the delays were beyond PRI control.
However, the project non-cost extension has helped PRI in reaching out for its initial target in terms of reaching out to female officers. In total 857 female police officers were targeted by the project and benefited from the different training programs that PRI delivered through the academy. Project final beneficiaries: The final beneficiaries of the project are: society at large in Yemen, with a focus on vulnerable groups including women, children, marginalized groups. Direct beneficiaries: are MOI, 700 female police officers that were hired in the South, the Police Academy. Section II. Achievements of Project Results and Activities:
Despite the very volatile and unpredictable situation in Yemen due to the war between the Coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the Houthi, the political tension, and clashes between the international recognized government (IRG) and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) seeking the separation of the south of Yemen, leading to the suspension of the Ministry of Interior work in 2020. Adding to that the floods that flashed Yemen and contributed to the deterioration of the humanitarian crisis that are affecting millions of people, and the COVID- 19 Pandemic that resulted in shutting down the country and international travel and added severe pressures on the authorities and the daily life of people. Despite all of that Penal Reform International (PRI) managed successfully to implement project activities as originally planned with minor changes to the theory of change, a  request for budget reallocation and none-cost extension of two months.  

II.I Overall Goal 
During this project, the first cornerstone was put in place to increase women role in building peace and security in Yemen. 400 female officers that are fully trained and equipped with knowledge and skills about law enforcement duty, human rights standards in applying justice and maintaining order are now deployed in several locations within police force to serve the Yemeni population. A female police unit is assigned the task of managing these officers, located at MOI in an allocated building that is fully furnished and equipped with needed tools, is established, with ca lear structure, tasks and responsibilities and identified qualifications and detailed TORs for each post they recruit and deploy on the ground with a proper monitoring and follow up system for their performance.  A Female Police Training Academy that aims at providing both foundational and specialized training for female officers to join the police force is established, and ready to accommodate 100 police officers per training that can last for 6 months and include comprehensive filed and theoretical training on policing, use of force, investigation of crimes, border control, traffic, prison management, human rights standards …etc.  
This foundational work that invested in shaping and establishing the main institutions that will handle the work and management of female police officers, is a first step in empowering women within law enforcement authorities and give them the opportunity to play an equal role to their male peers. Noting that access to such equal opportunities was hindered as outlined by the project theory of change by lack of capacity due to lack of training and education, difficult working environment in the field and socio-cultural barriers within both MoI and the society. The project targeted and contributed successfully to change and overcome those barriers by providing the needed training and capacity building for 857 officers, creating six pilot locations that change the working environment for women in the field to enable them to fulfill their tasks and remove the physical barriers in the criminal investigation department in Aden. The pilot locations are at Tawahi port, at Rabat check point, at Al-Alam check point, at Aden airport, and at Taiz center prison for the benefit of 165 female officers who also started working on shift nights. In addition, to working towards changing the culture inside the ministry of Interior by drafting and adopting a gender mainstream policy at the top level of the MoI.
The project theory was based on the fact, that if female officers receive the proper training and required capacity building, they will be able to work effectively in the field and better serve society and access to justice, especially for women who will be more encouraged to report a crime to a female officer because they feel more comfortable and safer.
The rationale of the project was that the reinvolvement of women to work and serve at the police would have an impact on building peace and security in Yemen by increasing people’s trust in police services and encouraging women to seek justice. It was noted that in 2018 when PRI started its work, the number of active female officers who are on duty within the MOI in both Sanaa and Aden did not exceed 100 in total. 20% of them were only in Aden, and Few of them were able to reach high ranks within the MOI; only 3 or 4 reached the rank of general. However, today, more than 2500 female officers are hired in the South and around 3200 female police officers in North and South. 

This increase in the number is one of the main outputs under objective one of the National Action plans of women peace and security (Res 1325), output No. 10, “Increased the representation of women in the Army and Security Forces,” would not have been possible without the project work and support provided to the MOI. 

This quantitative increase not only impacted increasing the number of female officers; it also had a qualitative effect on the services provided for women who come in contact with the law. The project captured the impact of involving female officers within the police force on people feeling safer, their satisfaction with services provided by female officers, and women’s willingness to report crimes, as the figures below show. In 2013, only 5.48% of women said that they are willing to report a crime alone, while in 2019, and due to the presence of female officers at police stations, the percentage went up to 14%.  While 94% of the public reported feeling safer inside police stations having a female officer around. This proves that the project theory of change and rationale was accurate. 

Goal indictor NO.1:  Percentage of the public reporting “feeling safer” since the introduction of the female police unit
According to the interviewed sample of the public, 94% of the public reported feeling safer inside the police station having female officers around, yet only 6% did not witness any change.
 
Goal indictor NO.2: Percentage of the public who “are satisfied” with the work of the female police unit and its contribution towards peace and security efforts.
How do you rate your satisfaction with the service provided by the women police on a Three-Likert scale.
According to the interviewed sample of the public, the survey results showed that 
(59%) of the sample were strongly satisfied, (29%) were moderately satisfied, whilst only (12%) of the sample are not satisfied.
 
Respondents Profile 
Respondents Disaggregated by  Sex 
Male	16.67%
Female	83.33%

Respondents Disaggregated by Age Group
18-29 	10%
30-49	70%
Above 50	20%



II.II Project outcomes: 
The project four main outcomes were all achieved through the project lifetime: 
Outcome No.1: Female police officers in the female police unit are better able to maintain law and order according to human rights standards and rules of administration of justice. 
857 officers  (initial target 700) received comprehensive training on maintaining law and human rights standards and they have now the skills needed to reflect this knowledge on their daily work and in service. However, PRI believes that more follow-up and mentoring  is needed for these female officers to accompany them while dealing with challenges and help them and enhance their skills in other selected topics and areas after they have been deployed to the filed.   
The academy was established, and training inside its premises started and it will be the main pillar of project sustainability since its impact will remain after the project ends. 
Number of female police officers who feel confident and able maintaining law and order in a variety of settings.

To what extent do you feel confident and able maintaining law and order in a variety of settings
77.5 %	Extremely Confident
17.5 %	Confident to a certain Extent 
5.0 %	Barely Confident 
100 %	Grand Total


Summary:    95% interviewed female police officers feel confident and able to maintain law and order in a variety of settings as a result of project activities, while only 5% attributed a low level of confidence
	The 95% of female police officers which attributed a level of confidence relate that to the following reasons:
	Women trainees had increased skills in several cases that already used and needed on duty
	Having such trainings had increased the willingness of women to be deployed in various settings.
	Several trainees had already been transferred into roles where they can use their new skills
	Their colleagues (men) had increased confidence in the skills of their women counterparts and to work with them in various settings.

	While the other 5% who attributed a low level of confidence believe that they need to be enrolled into more series of trainings to be equipped enough to operate into all field different settings.
 Number of female police officers able to apply human rights standards and rules of administration and justice

 
According to the interviewed sample from the female police officers that benefited from the project capacity building interventions, the results show that the majority of the sampled are able to apply human rights standards within their work, either inside police stations, cross borders, or prisons. The sample was representative, and covered all duty stations, to ensure that all the female police officers to verify that they are able to demonstrate their capacity in applying human rights standards regardless of their duty station. 



Extension Phase:
The work of the extension phase has focused on expanding the achievements under the outcomes of the original project:
Pillar No. 1: Continue supporting the training at the police academy with the aim of reaching out to a larger number of female police officers and test the validity of the develop curriculums in the field and reflect any changes needed.
Training workshops have continued to be delivered at the police academy targeting additional female police officers, who received 5-days specialized trainings covering the curriculums developed.  
Output 1. 600 female police will be fully trained using the training program developed within the female police academy.
457 female officers received 5-days trainings titled "Developing women's police skills within law enforcement agencies on dealing with women's and children's issues". The trainees were mainly trained on topics related to basics of criminal investigations, criminal intelligence foundation, special operations, foundational drug control, gender-based violence, human rights principles, crime scenes, community policing, security media, foundation principles for prisons management and treatment of inmates according to international human rights principles. 









As a results of the training workshops, the trainees increased their knowledge in the topics trained on, as during the training course, an assessment of the trainees’ capabilities was conducted to assess the change on the level of knowledge and skills reported by female officers. The results show an average learning gain equal to (+53) %, the following formula was used to compute the learning gain value:
 Learning Gain Formula= (Post test Score-Pre-Test Score)/ (Maximum Score-Pre-test Score).
A detailed analysis of each course is summarized in the table below:
#	Training Date/Location	Training Venue	Total number of Trainees 	Trainees Demographics 	Trainees Average Age 	Assessment Results-(Learning Gain)
1	3rd - 8th July 2021	Aden 	60	(50% from Aden, 25% from Ibb, 25% from Lahej)	33	54%
2	3rd - 8th July 2021	Taiz	50		36	47%
3	10th -15th July 2021	Aden	60	(50% from Aden, 25% from Ibb, 25% from lahej)	34	49%
4	10th -15th July 2021	Hadramout 	60		35	50%
5	7th -12th August 2021	Aden	60	(50% from Aden, 25% from Ibb, 25% from lahej)	34	56%
6	14th -19th August 2021 	Aden 	60	(50% from Aden, 25% from Ibb, 25% from Lahej)	36	53%
7	21st-26th August 2021	Aden	57	All the participants from Aden 	33	58%
8	30th October - 4th November 2021	Aden 	50	All the participants from Aden	31.6	58%
9	13 – 18 November 2021	Aden 	50	All the participants from Aden	32	60%
10	21st – 25th November 2021	Aden 	39	All the participants from Aden	32	61%


Media Coverage of the trainings:
Link
https://youtu.be/WCMmN1Nmhfl
https://newsformy.com/amp/news-694433.html
http://tagreerpost.net/news/single-details/regional-1796
https://adengad,net/posts/553938
https://youtu.be/gSlr9FBSikg

https://www.cratar.net/archivs/1495578

https://24-post.com/news17835.html

https://adengad,net/posts/554961

https://ye-now.com/news6406788.html

https://gulf365.com/alymn-news/amp/10609750
https://www.26sepnews.net/2021/07/10/887-2

https://nuomnews.com/n-318852606
https://alsjl-news.com/n/4627296
https://www.hadramout21.com/2021/07/10/306184
https://nabd,com/t/91836767-f0ba7d
https://adengad,net/posts/555835
https://alwattan,net/Mnews/164547
https://nabd,com/t/91836767-f0ba7d
https://www.aden-tm.net/mobdet.aspx?contid=180351
https://alwattan,net/Mnews/167331
https://nabd,com/t/92149440-18b667
https://www.aden-tm.net/mobdet.aspx?contid=181022
https://ye.now.com/news6439493.html
https://pressbee.net/show3548324.html
https://khabar.one/news/1299255/1
https://www.tahdeeth.net/Mnews/188692
https://adengad.net/posts/563386

Output 2.  All teaching curricula will be tested, and any needed amendments will be introduced.   
The teaching curricula was tested by the MOI official’s ad amended were required prior delivering the set of trainings.
Pillar No. 2: work towards issuing a decree for the establishment of the female police academy as the official academy assigned the task of graduating female police officers. 
Output 3. Presidential decree is issued to officially announce the Female police academy as a branch for the Police academy dedicated for females. 
PRI worked on issuing a presidential decree for the establishment of the Academy, a draft of this decree was drafted and has been sent to the president office and discussed it.
However, per the current Minister of Interior, Mr. Ibrihiam Hidan vision, an agreement reached to consider the Female Police Academy as a branch of the Police Academy, to guarantee the sustainability of the Academy in light of the current financial challenges the government is facing, and to be specialized in providing training for female officers only. Where the female police officers will be getting their accreditation and ranks from the Police Academy and receive their training between the two academies. Also, he declares that this approach will be similar to the Jordanian module, in relation to this arrangement at this stage. Noting that due to both political changes in Aden and the financial situation of the government, this is the best approach to guarantee that the Female police Academy can keep functioning. PRI have agreed on this since what we have solved the accreditation issue and the legal status of the academy.   

Output 4. A budget allocation is dedicated for the female police academy as part of the annual police budget. 
Placing the Academy under the Police Academy have sorted this out. Since now it’s a branch of the police academy that is dedicated for women. However, PRI is aware of the difficult financial situation the government in the South is facing. as since the beginning of war and political conflict, this led to the suspension of the monthly salaries of employees of the Ministry of Interior, including female police members. Consequently, the government, represented by the Ministry of interior and the Prime Minister, seeks to re-approve the salaries of the ministry employees, after which they will consider other employment obligations for the ministry institutions and interests, including the Women's Police Academy However, PRI will continue to support the academy till the financial situation in Yemen at the level of the government will be better and more stable. 
Outcome No.2:  A gender sensitive approach in the work of MoI is mainstreamed through improved safeguards for female police officers.
For the whole duration of the project a gender expert worked full time at the female police Unit to provide the unit team and its management with full support to put in place detailed gender mainstream plan, draft gender sensitive policies, revise recruitment process, supported the drafting of specialized TORs for each job, and draft in partnership with the unit a gender mainstream policy for the whole MoI that was adopted and approved by the top management of the MoI. It worth to mention that all of this work is considered the first step needed for changing the mentality towards female officers’ role within MoI. However, more work should be done in sensitization and raising the profile of female police officers and their role within MoI. Adopting the policy was a first step but putting it into practice will require more interventions and work form the female police unit and should be supported by evidence on female officers succusses on the ground in delivering their work.  
Percentage of female police officers who report feeling comfortable with their needs accommodated in their place of work and training locations
 

Extent to which organizational policies are properly gender-mainstreamed and in line with international standards and best practice in the police force.
PRI worked closely with the MOI and the Women Police Unit on reducing the gaps existing in the system, aiming at improving the situation of women in the police force, as gender mainstreaming policies form an important key to the process of raising women’s position in the police force. Although organizational structures have to change before cultural issues can be addressed, the most important existing barrier to gender equality proves to be the culture within the organization, accordingly PRI worked on developing a gender policy-(output no.2.1) and ensure continuous meetings with the senior commanders to discuss and promote gender mainstreaming in the police force. According to the Anecdotal Evidence gathered from the senior commanders of the female police unit, there is a noticeable change on the policies taken within the women police unit to address the gender gap between the female police officers and their male peers.
"The work done within the project is of a great added value on the organizational level, as it entailed both a top-down approach accompanied with a down-up approach according to the nature of the interventions within this project, PRI drafted a gender policy paper highlighting the main gaps encountered within the female police unit and key recommendations to be taken with the unit to address those gaps, along their continuous meetings with us,…those meetings  were of a great effect on the unit as the communication encountered within those meetings were the key to a demand-based driven amendments on the current situation of the unit, Nevertheless I truly believe that we have passed  major milestones through the current project, yet the concept of a proper mainstreaming within the unis needs continues work and support in order to be sustained within the unit and taken as approach of work."

Number of senior managements at the MoI who endorse and are in favour of gender mainstreaming.
All the senior officers within the MoI have agreed on the importance of activating the role of female police in the security sector in different levels in order to ensure a fair and equal treatment for the girls and women that are victims, as the studies show that a women or girl victim would prefer to go to the security institutions if she knew that there is a female police officer who will serve her. 
Output 5. 50 top managers of the from all police department are introduced to the importance of hiring female officers within their teams -Extension Phase.
Penal reform international with cooperation the General Department of Family Protection "Women's Police" affiliated to the Yemeni Ministry of Interior organized two roundtables with the aim of encouraging the work of the women police within the ministry of interior departments in Aden during the periods of (28th of Feburay-1st of March 2022) & (7th – 8th of March 2022).
A paper on "Security sector and gender reform" was presented at the workshop as "preliminary ideas" prepared by Brigadier General Dr. Abdul Salam Ali Al-Dallai, which included monitoring the reform of the security sector during different community contexts, and the challenges and opportunities for the introduction of gender, and practically included four categories: 
- Strengthening the management of the security sector and gender mainstream 
 -Strengthening the professionalism of the security forces. 
-Disarmament and the formation of peace. 
-  Rule of law. 
Participants conducted a brainstorming exercise and a fruitful discussion on the challenges currently facing the security sector and evaluated the sector's indicators in recently especially since the transformations of the previous decade and the outbreak of war.
Participants were divided into five discussion groups during the second session of the first day and the first session of the second day, and they came up with a number of recommendations, the most important of which can be summarized as follows: 

- The importance of having the political will of decision makers on promoting and empowering gender within the institutions Ministry of Interior departments.
 -Encouraging women to join the police and security sector. 
- Gender leadership positions in the Ministry of interior and police stations in the provinces and public administrations (leadership empowerment of the female component). 
-Comprehensive and appropriate distribution of women's police officers in security services, including police stations. 
-Providing opportunities to participate in training and rehabilitation courses for women's police in several areas including research, investigation, self-defense, identification of referral methods for survivors while integrating social workers into the requirement... Etc. 
-Opportunities for study abroad to integrate women's police with their counterparts in other countries. 
- Providing office furniture to the Taiz Security Family Protection Department. 
 -Providing military allowances to the women's police. 
-The work of a code of conduct and regulations for action and the application of the principle of reward and punishment. 
-The importance of the presence of social workers and psychologists from the female component to deal with juveniles, and the qualification of these specialists, in addition to the necessity of their presence in police stations and prison departments. 
 -Cultural challenges and the role of education for promoting gender within the security sector.
-Transforming the cultural system, from the curriculum to the various institutions of society, and the need to harmonize local laws with the international conventions and treaties.
-Criticizing the stereotype of women in our Arab societies and limiting their roles to specific occupations. 
- The need to pay attention to the dissemination of the knowledge related to the international laws, treaties, conventions and resolutions on women and gender, and to highlight specifically UN Resolution 1325 and the SEDAO Convention on aspects related to discrimination and inequality. 
- Empowering qualified female leaders from decision-making positions in the police service. 
- Requesting the Ministry of Interior to make a regulation to determine the appointments of women police officers in leadership positions, and to consider the competence of appointment. 
-Serious and necessary and inexcusable attention to the issue of salaries, benefits and long-term benefits interrupted by the war and the resulting imbalances. 
-Unifying all security formations within a security apparatus under the command of the Ministry of Interior. 
-Bridging the gap with civil society organizations, the press, and the media to campaign for and support public opinion to integrate gender into police reform.
 
Media Coverage of the roundtable:
https://adengad.net/posts/601875/

https://t.me/adenalghad_news

https://m.adnlng.info/news/189761/#.YiZWYozj6wg.whatsapp
 
 http://yemen-publisher.com/show_post.php?id=

Output 6. At least 200 female police officers started working in police departments in which they have never served.
250 female police officers started working in police departments per the data received from the Ministry of Interior. 
Output 7. Female police officers’ success stories are published via social media and media outlets.
Social media campaign, documentaries and Rdio programs and TV programs were dedicated and produced as part of the project to highlight the work done by police officers in the new locations to which they were deployed 
Outcome No.3:  Barriers to women reporting crimes are removed.
The project theory of change and one of the main targets was to remove barriers for women and encourage them to report crimes, including crimes of domestic violence. What was mentioned above is a positive indicator that women felt safer and more encouraged to deal with female officers. Globally, women are more encouraged to seek justice when they feel that the system is responsive to their needs, and that they will not be harassed by the system during their journey within the criminal justice system, which apply also for Yemen.  The project managed successfully to achieve a major step towards creating a gender responsive justice by placing female officers at the first point of contact between women and the justice system. Female officers serving at police stations will be a great assess to secure a safe environment for women at police stations with less likelihood for harassment and abuse. The impact of this outcome will be seen clearly when all police stations in Yemen start having female officers in place and have an active role in dealing with female who come in contact with the law . And the media can play a major role in sensitizing the public and make women know that there are female officers who are there to serve and help them. Which the project started by investing in media training and supporting the drafting of investigative reports about female police officer’s role. 
Number of crimes reported made by women
According to the latest data gathered through the Yemeni Polling Centre  and published on their official website, statistics show that Yemeni women have increased their willingness to report crimes in comparison with a baseline done back in 2013 , where it shows an increase of approximately 9% . Yet PRI believes that the shift in cultural perspectives of Yemeni Women and their trust of the female police work and it’s integrity and value to resolve their cases needs time to be determined and achieved, the current project is a clear milestone for achieving this, Yet continuous work on raising the awareness level of the Women of their rights and how to do a claim wherever she faced abuse or any form of violence should be invested in more, along a continuous investment in the services  of the law enforcement bodies-(having a female representation)  
Ask only female respondents
Would you report a crime alone?
	2013	2019
Yes 
No 
Husband/father/male relative allows me 	5.48%
82.01%
12.51%	14%
56%
26%

 
Percentage of women “who know how” and “feel comfortable” reporting a crime to the police. 
According to the latest data gathered through the Yemeni Polling Centre  and published on their official website in 2019, statistics show the following: 



PRI was keen to triangulate  data sources, so PRI project officer in Yemen did a pool assessment with a sample from the female public in the field where the female police officers are operational, and the results show that 6 out of 10 women are feeling comfortable to report crime to the police, where the other 4 women out of the 10 were hesitating to do so because of cultural perspective and fear from the family reaction towards her if she did report, especially if the crime is related to domestic violence. 
Outcome No.4: Improved respect of international standards and best practice in ensuring equal opportunities for women in the police force.
Despite the fact that this outcome was the major outcome effected by the COVID-19 spread after the cancelation of global events and forums. PRI managed successfully to engage in the debate internationally and present the Yemeni policewomen model as a model that is needed for building peace and security, including the UN peace keeping department, the CAT committee, the UN Human rights council, the crime commission. And produced a briefing on conflict impact on detention facilities with a gender lens presenting Yemen as an example 


II.III project outputs:
Output 1.1: Structure of the female police unit  meets the needs of the unit and allows officers to properly respond to the security situation across Yemen
PRI developed the mandate of the female police academy; a clear structure of the female police academy in Yemen was developed (Please see below the Structure), the structure of the academy includes each of the academy’s vision, mission, and institutional values, along the key objectives. The academy’s organizational structure took into consideration defining the arrangement of interaction between resources, personnel, and tasks within the academy. The organizational structure is represented in the form of a chart, with roles, titles and positions listed in a cascading manner. In addition to that, job descriptions for each post were developed defining the roles and responsibilities, duties that should be delivered by the female officers according to the different locations to which they will be assigned, with the responding line of authorities and management. Also, a manual of standards of procedures and mechanisms was developed for the internal management of the academy, to ensure that the female police officers will be able to carry out their jobs, according to a standardized mechanism. “Kindly see Annex No. 2- The Job Description for each post” 
Alongside, PRI have worked closely with female police unit to ensure a well-representation within the Ministry of Interior, in terms of setting a clear objectives and role for the unit and raising the capabilities of the existing human resources and equipping the unit with the logistical needs and furniture. This has fostered the role of the unit in protecting the women rights who come in contact with the law, as the female police unit will foster the protection of women and girls within the Ministry of Interior’s departments.

A roundtable was organized in Malaysia on February 17 & 18, 2019, attended by 17 participants from the top management of the MoI, including the head of the female police unit. The roundtable discussed in details the role expected from the female police unit and how the unit should be functioning by securing the top political will for the unit, including the full support for the unit from the Human Right’s Minister who attended the roundtable and highlighted the value of the unit to secure more protection for the rights of Yemeni men and women when they come in contact with the law.  
The Output indictor to measure the progress on this activity was fully achieved ‘Extent to which job descriptions properly define roles and duties of female police officers depending on location, assignment and rank”. The indicator was achieved due to  PRI  work on a clear Job description cards for each post within the Female police unit including the Title of the post, Military Rank, qualifications, Supervisory Roles, Reporting, Job goals and Job duties, in addition to the feedback PRI gathered from the senior commanders within the unit. 
Output 1.2: Draft a training plan for female police unit that was adopted by the Yemen Police Academy
At the first year of the project, PRI approached the Dutch police Academy to provide technical support in developing the training plan and be involved in the training process. However, the Dutch police Academy declined the request and informed PRI that by their law they cannot cooperate with NGOs. So, PRI considered alternative options, like the Swedish police academy that was approached, and PRI never got a response. As a result, PRI approached the Jordanian Public Security Directorate who welcomed the cooperation and started working with PRI on developing the training plan and provide training for the Yemeni female police at the Royal Police Academy and Female Police Academy. “Kindly see Annex No. 3 - The training plan agreed with the academy in Jordan”.
As outlined in the training plan, Yemeni female police officers should receive a specialized training at the police academy in Jordan which will also include field visits for the different police units such as the traffic department,  the family protection department , and investigation crime department. It was anticipated that this training should give all the essential and needed skills for the officers to go back to Yemen and share and train other fellow colleagues on what they received in Jordan. 

An MoU for cooperation between the Jordanian Public Directorate & PRI was signed and approved by the ministerial council. 

Before developing the plan with the police in Jordan and to be able to identify the needs and map the capacity that exists within the team of officers who will be assigned the task of  providing the training at the academy in Yemen, PRI organized in Malaysia  during October 2019 ,two  workshops which  focused on the priorities and necessities of the female police in Yemen, with the participation of the head of training department at the Jordanian police and the head of the female police force in Jordan. As a result, the training plan was developed to adapt the needs of the females’ police officers with the representation of the senior commanders of the Yemeni Ministry of Interior and the Female Police Unit as well as Jordanian independent expertise. A participatory approach between the direct beneficiaries of the training plan (Yemeni female police officers) as well as their senior commanders (Mr. Ali Naser Lakhsha from the MoI and the Head of the Female Police Unit), with the Jordanian expertise (Director of Police Training Department in Jordan , Women Police Department Head in Jordon) which was representing  the supply side of the delivery of the trainings. This approach adopted for the development of the training plan was an essential method, to ensure a demand based and a structured process during the development of the training plan.
The training plan included two sections: the first is general training courses for all female police officers, which include all the basic skills in policing considering the latest trends in international standards adopted in the police sciences.  The second is specialized training courses established for the top management of the academy that focus on how to run the academy. The training plan covers topics related to policing work standards, management skills, and communications skills. Other specialized topics such as Criminal Investigation, community policing, and Criminal Intelligence.

Output1.3: Training courses developed for the Police Academy
PRI have developed the training courses to be used in the Yemen police Academy, 11 Training courses were developed, One Basic Introductory course and 10 specialized training courses, the training materials has been entailed  to a revision process by the MoI  prior adapting them . A brief of the elven training courses developed are listed below.
Trainers Foundational Preparation Course 
The foundational course was developed to equip the female police officers with the required set of skills to be able to become trainers and deliver the required set of trainings for the female police officers. The Foundational Curricula is focusing on equipping the trainer with the needed training dynamic to bring about changes in information, experiences, and attitudes of the trainees in order to enable them to take advantage of their potentials and raise the efficiency in the practice of their work in a systematic manner with high productivity. It is also a continuous process to bring about specific mental behaviour changes to meet current or future needs that the individuals require to perform the work.  The trainer is the base of the training and the first pillar of the success of the training process, which means any shortage or      deficiency in their knowledge or personal abilities or mental behaviour will negatively affect the result of the training process. 
 Working at Borders, and Foreigners Affair’s Course 
 This course is intended to equip the female police officers with the needed knowledge when dealing with citizens crossing borders including foreigners affair’s regulations,  This course considers the internal law in regulating the entry, and residence of foreigners on its territory, but the entry, or exit of any country must be characterized by adequate legal, and administrative regulation to facilitate the movement of people between countries. Therefore this  course, reflects aspects in international agreements governing the security of land, and air borders, and then the general rules for organizing foreigner’s residency before  detailing the provisions of Yemen law No. 47 of 1991 regarding entry and residence of foreigner’s. 
Security Media Course 
This course will equip the female police officers with the role of media, where media plays a vital role in influencing the various fields of life, including security. The course is designed according to the philosophy of the relationship between the media and Security.  This Course is based on addressing the positive feeling, and security for the citizens. The opposite would be creating a negative impact which does not serve security but leads to reduce the importance of the security services and lack of confidence in the ability of the security services to achieve their goals. Therefore, the trainees will be introduced to the importance for which the security services in the modern states had to enter into a positive relationship of cooperation and integration with the media in order to serve the society goals for which these agencies are working and to ensure that the media take advantage of information from their original sources, to avoid fear and confusion among the society.
Community Police Foundational course
This course highlights the importance of  balancing between the authority of the police, and applying the law to preserve the security of the individual and society, to achieve its well-being and preserve the rights of public freedoms, as a servant of security and stability . The course highlights the role of policing in modern international trends.
Basics of Criminal Investigations Course 
This course focuses on standardized best practices for Criminal Investigations :“The set of legal procedures that the competent authority undertakes to discover the crime, and collect interferences that established the relationship between the crimes, and its perpetrators, arrest them, and present them to the public prosecution”. 
Criminal Intelligence Foundation Course
The female police officers are introduced to basics of the criminal Intelligence, as Intelligence training on criminal work needs to build accumulated knowledge, and skills the training material here is for criminal intelligence only, and it differs greatly from training in intelligence related to state security.
Special Operations:
Special Operations teams as the striking force of major police operations, their training is based on dangerous arrests, hostage release, and/ or VIP protection, the speed of carrying out the duties, and to deal with surprising events that requires Intelligence speedy responses.
Traffic Control Course:
monitoring, and organizing road traffic, supervising, and achieving traffic safety procedures, and rules.
Foundational Drug Control Course 
In the current course, the female police officers introduced on the main definition of drugs, the effects of the drugs, and the legal approaches for controlling drugs according to the Yemeni-law along the best international practices. 
Foundation Principles for Prisons Course 
the female prison officers will be introduced to the international standards in dealing with prisoners according to human rights principles. 







Output 1.4: Female officers and trainers at the police academy are able to deliver a variety of courses via a Training of Trainers (ToT)
An MoU was signed between Penal Reform International and the Public Security Directorate in Jordan in March 2020, for the purpose of delivering a set of training courses based on the training plan and training courses developed for the female police officers from the Republic of Yemen, who will be delivering trainings for their peers at the female police academy in Yemen. 
The first training was planned immediately after signing the agreement, but due to the COVID-19 the workshop was postponed. 

Meanwhile PRI was sustaining continuous communication channels and consultations with the MoI in Aden, represented by the Deputy Minister, Mr. Lakhsha and the head of female police unit, to agree on the time frame for delivering the activities of the project and their feasibility, in light of the ongoing conflict and COVID-19 and the lockdown on travel. Coordination also took place with the head of the female police Unit in Jordan and the Head of training within the Police to discuss the trainings at the Royal police academy and the female police training centre in Jordan. Once the Jordanian borders opened, two workshops were delivered... 

In November 2020, two workshops took place, one for the higher ranks officers and the second one was delivered for other ranks .

The first workshop targeted six senior officers which lasted for two weeks – (2nd -14th of November 2020), during this workshop the trainees were introduced to different topics focusing on:
Women's police work / Jordanian Royal Police Academy  management and functional development/ Security Centre management/  The compliance with  international human rights standards / the art of leadership and security decision-making /Assessing operational positions / Crisis Management / Crime Scene Management / Introduction into Change Management / Institutional Evaluation and Development / The Art of Negotiation / Origins of Investigation of Electronic Crimes / Document Detection / Combating Cybercrime
The training topics were delivered through an interactive learning methods, seminars and practical applications and field visits adopted. Three field visits were conducted through the first workshop for the anti-narcotics department, the criminal investigation department and control and operations department, that are affiliated to the public security directorate. During the field visits the Yemeni senior police officers were introduced to the work of the three departments and the equipment and mechanisms used in the criminal investigation, and on the mechanisms of receiving claims from recipients for quality control operations. 

The second workshop targeted 12 Yemeni officers for four weeks between the 2nd to 28th of November 2020, during this workshop the trainees were introduced to different topics focusing on:
The nature of the work of the women's police, Jordanian Royal Police Academy  management and  functional development,  fitness, communication skills and the art of dealing with the public , How to write investigative papers, the security use of the weapon, the importance of conforming to international human rights standards including the  procedures of receiving complaints and  how to be transferred to  the judiciary , Security sense, privacy of investigation of family cases , security suspension, security restriction and closing points,  Tactical detention ,how to record the order of operations ,mechanism of work with  the people in temporary detention, disclosure of false documents, the 
importance of maintaining the crime scene, the integrity of the criminal case file….


 











Five field visits to the traffic department, family protection department, forensic and laboratories department, women police department, and control and operations department. During the field visits the Yemeni police officers were introduced to the Jordanian expertise. 
During the training course, an assessment of the trainees’ capabilities was conducted to assess the change on the Level of knowledge and skills reported by female officers and trainers that received the TOT, the assessment consists of main nine pillars:
•	Acquired Skills 
•	Leadership Personality 
•	Participating in practical exercises
•	Self-reliance
•	Cooperation with others and the extent of his interaction with the team
•	Ability to innovate and innovate and to face emergency situations
•	Discipline and permanence
•	Ability to defend his opinion.
•	Endurance and patience

 
The trainees were assessed on the nine pillars mentioned above on four scales as follows:
Excellent 	A Grade 	90-100 
Very Good 	B Grade 	80-89.9
Good 	C Grade 	70-79.9
Fair	D Grade 	50-69.9

•	Senior Commanders Workshop Results-(2nd- 14th of November 2020) 
On average the trainees were assessed with (very good) level as the average results of the assessment were 89.305. The details of the assessment results are illustrated in the figure below. 












•	Other rank officers workshop results-(2nd- 28th of November 2020) 
On average the trainees were assessed with (very good) level as the average results of the assessment were 84.7. The details of the assessment results are illustrated in the figure below.

 

 
The specialized workshops, the five workshops were delivered to the female police officers as follow:
The first workshop organized in Malaysia on October 23rd - 25th of 2019 and attended by twenty participants (13 Female & 7 Male) representing the police officers in Yemen. The launching of this workshop was under the patronage of the vice minister of  Interior in Yemen and Yemen Ambassador to Malaysia,  Jordanian experts and trainers as well as representatives from the Women Police Department and Director of Police Training Department in Jordan, were participating to present in order the Jordanian expertise in strengthening the women police officers capabilities. 
The workshop discussed the priorities and necessities of the Female’s police in Yemen including the following topics:
•	Women police work ethics 
•	Girls and women in detention (police, prisons, and security requirements).
•	Treatment standards for girls and women who come in contact with the law enforcement agencies.
•	Protection measures for girls and women in detention (treatment of girls and women in prison, and protection requirements).
•	Alternatives to detention.
•	The current situation of Women's Police in Yemen challenges and needs.







The second workshop in Malaysia between the 27th -29th of October 2019 and attended by twenty participants (13 Female & 7 Male) representing police in Yemen. The launching of this workshop was under the patronage of the vice minister of  Interior in Yemen and Yemen Ambassador to Malaysia. 
The workshop aimed at providing the participants with the knowledge and mechanisms related to empowering and strengthening the role of the female's police work in Yemen and mainstreaming gender aspects. The main topics which were discussed during the three days’ workshop were:
•	Mechanisms for dealing with violence cases and abuse against girls and women (domestic violence, protection measures during police procedures).
•	Mechanisms for enhancing women's police work in Yemen and gender mainstreaming.
•	The importance of integrating female police officers into the police work (current difficulties and strengthening opportunities).
•	The use of force in the women police work.
•	Investigation techniques with women and girls who come in contact with law.
•	Basics of arresting and inspecting techniques of women in police procedures (the current situation and strengthening opportunities for the purpose of protecting women and girls during riots and search).







The targeted audience chosen for both workshops were police officers who have elementary to mid-level expertise in the policing sector as well as holding higher educational degrees in order to build their capabilities in a Training of Trainers  to equip them with the needed skills of  being trainers. 









PRI have targeted in the following training, Police officers who are in a junior to mid-level roles mainly female police officers who have experience between (1-5) years as  56% lies in this category , 6% with (5 to 10)  years of experience contributing to 62% of the trainees in the junior-mid level, the minority of the trainees are of senior level. 







The majority of the trainees hold bachelor’s or master’s degrees contributing to a total of 95% of the trainees, only 5% of the trainees holds a diploma degree. 


			65%
                 	

						Trainees Profile Desegregated by Sex						
			 35%


PRI have integrated Men and women in the same training for two main purposes:
1)	Males colleagues have certain capabilities and skills related to the operations such as arresting and searching techniques 
2)	Male colleagues will start to observe the challenges that their females counterparts are facing and what are the barriers that they face. As a result, the male counterparts attitudes  of the non-acceptance will start to shift positively and the male police officers will be the gender champions for their  females colleagues.

Also, it was observed that 61% of the trainees in both workshops have not been enrolled into the police academy nor graduated from it, only 39% of the total participants have joined the police academy when the academy was functioning at Sanaa
 


 

According to the baseline survey distributed at the beginning of the two workshops, it is noticed that around half of the trainees- 47% were not enrolled into trainings  for police work before, and this is the first time they were introduced to such trainings, where a 53% took some trainings before. 
 
A baseline survey was distributed on the trainees to assess the following dimensions:
1)	Workplace
Does Workplace comply with female police officers’ needs?
According to the surveyed sample, the response results were 1:1 ratio of satisfied versus not satisfied of workplace conditions-in other words 50% of the respondents believe  that the workplace is not suitable and does not satisfy  their needs and the other 50% believes that the workplace does satisfy their needs to conduct work.
2)	Procedures and polices
Do you perceive that the current procedures and policies are gender sensitive?
According to the surveyed sample, 1:1 ratio believes that both of the procedures and policies are gender sensitive versus are not gender sensitive –in other words 50% of the respondents believe that procedures and policies are not gender sensitive and the other 50% believes that they are gender sensitive. 
3)	Senior Management Role in Promoting the importance of integrating police females’ officers 
63% of the respondents believe that the role of senior management is weak or does not exist at all, and 37% believes that the senior management have an effective role.  
Also, the Baseline assessment survey served as a tool to assess the trainees’ knowledge, those results will be vital to be integrated in the designing and planning phase for developing the training curricula for the Academy.
Phrase	Yes	No
I have full knowledge of international human rights standards. 	13%	87%
I have the potential to apply international human rights standards.  	17%	83%
I have full knowledge of the standards of women's policing and gender aspects.	
15%	85%
I have the potential to apply the standards of women’s policing and gender sensitive aspects 	
25%	75%
Women's police officers play a useful role in promoting gender sensitive treatment	
40%	60%
I have a full knowledge of the ethics of policing, and the principles for  the treatment of women who come in contact with the police. 	
22%	78%
  I have the potential to apply policing ethics, and to apply the principles for the treatment of women who come in contact with the police.	
44%	56%
Main findings of the baseline assessment are summarized in the table below-for more details- Kindly see Annexes No. 4 Findings of baseline assessment. 

The results of the baseline assessment ensure the need for the implementation of the current project, which is to strengthen the capabilities of the female police officers through having a female police unit and Academy to deliver a set of specialized trainings. As noticed from the results in the above table, the majority of the females lack the basic knowledge of the main principles of  policing work. 
A pre and post training assessment was conducted for the trainees in order to assess the degree of change in the level of the learning gain by using different set of questions:
Trainees were asked to assess their agreement with a set of concepts and beliefs related to human rights and international standards of treating females who come in contact with the law on a Likert scale 
The results show an average learning gain equal to (+) 24 % , the following formula was used to compute the learning gain value:
 Learning Gain Formula= (Post test Score-Pre-Test Score)/ (Maximum Score-Pre-test Score)
Also, a satisfactory survey was distributed to ensure the quality of the service delivered for the trainees which contributes to the success of the training delivery, three main dimensions were assessed as follows:

The overall satisfaction rate was computed using the following Equation:
Overall Satisfaction Rate=
Dimension

	Training Material and Content	Training Facilities- (Venue and Equipment)	Trainer Performance
	86%	95%	96%
Average 	92.3%
(Weighting Factor * Training Material and Content Satisfaction Score) + (Weighting Factor * Training Facilities Satisfaction Score) + (Weighting Factor *Trainer Performance Satisfaction Score) 
0.923 = (0.33*0.86)+(0.33*0.95) +(0.33*0.96)

Likert Scale Key-(4 Scale)
1	Very low performance
2	Good performance
3	Very good performance
4	Excellent performance
Also, an anecdotal evidence was gathered from the trainees and their senior commander (Head of the female Police Unit) with regards to the following domain of change:
The trainees were asked a set of questions to assess a set of domain of changes post the two workshops delivered in Malaysia as follows:
	Change in attitudes and confidence of participants
1)	To what extent do you feel you are willing and able to be deployed as a member of the female police officers?







2)	To what extent do you feel you have the skills / knowledge to be deployed as a member of the female police officers?
A sample of the trainees’ responses were as follows:
























3)	Also, the trainees were asked about their senior commanders’ attitudes in the ability and readiness for deployment as follows:
What do your immediate senior commanders feel about you being ready for deployment?
The sample taken agreed that their senior commanders are supportive and encourage the female police officers’ deployments.

PRI have also asked the female police officers senior commander- (Head of the female Police Unit ) about her feelings; response is as follows: 

Certainly, managers encourage women police officers, and seeks to enroll them into trainings which will enable the female police officers to be deployed actively in police work and to deliver the work/operations in a better manner. Yet, in return, managers have a crucial role in building the capabilities of their employees through providing the needed support, including support from senior management of the Ministry of Interior, this will contribute to the enhancement of the policewomen performance.

4)	Have there been any other developments – positive or negative – as a result of your participation in the trainings delivered in Malaysia?
A sample of the trainees’ responses were as follows:
They agreed that the workshop delivered by PRI gave the female police officers skills and knowledge which they get for the first time. All of them declared they need more workshops in different topics.

Head of the female Police Unit response
The positive change brought beyond the training is very clear through the improved performance of police officers in their work facilities. Female police officers became more enthusiastic: We hope that there will be further trainings for the rest of the females working in the women's police. We also wish to expand in the field of exchanging experiences with other countries that have preceded Yemen in the matter of women's police and the nature of its work. This will increase the capacity of female police officers and improve their performance. 

How does the Trainees Feel  with regards to the workshops?
Different quotes were gathered from the direct beneficiaries a sample of those quotes are as follows:
1. This workshop had a great positive impact, and during the training days I learned new skills such as arrest, search and women's police role.
 2. Through this workshop I learned about the experience of women's police in Jordan, and I am excited to pass this experience on to my colleagues in Yemen.
3. I have benefited a lot from this course but I still need more to build my capacity in the various fields of women's police work.
4. The exchange of experiences and skills in this course has had a great impact in building my capacity.
5. I can return to my work facility now and I am aware of many international treaties and laws on the preservation of the dignity of women accused and convicted in prisons. 

The Head of the female Police Unit declared the following:

Certainly the training has contributed to raising the capacity of female police officers and improving performance in their workplaces, but women police officers need a longer training periods (e.g. three months in a row) to gain deep training experience. Training for 3 days and 3 other days gives broad lines and concepts. Yet long-term training of up to three months will give more benefit in the long run."

The Third Workshop was a specialized training workshop for the benefit of the female police officers working at the prisons took place in Amman - Jordan in March 2020; at the aim of promoting the role of female police in prison administration, and the importance of gender-responsive treatment. 14 officers working in Yemeni prisons participated in this workshop, the workshop was carried out between the 15th -17th of March 2020 .Several aspects were discussed such as women's police duties in prisons as well as guarantees for the protection of female prisoners, hygiene and health care for women prisoners and the role of the police women care for pregnant prisoners, mothers and children accompanying their mothers and girls in prisons, the role of female police in prisons in implementing effective programs for the rehabilitation of women and girls, including psychological and social rehabilitation programs, as well as programs to prepare them for life outside of prison.

The Forth workshop on “Child justice issues and the role of female police in dealing with children” was delivered on July 2020, targeting 15 participants of the female police officers. 
The three days’ workshop aimed at achieving the best interest of children in contact with the law during the evidence gathering stage, through working on enhancing the capabilities of the female police officers and enriching their knowledge regarding  children’s rights  in light of national laws and the principles of the international laws, introducing the participants to the basic concepts and principles related to the child justice system and providing participants with the skills to apply procedures for children , in proportion to the age group to which they belong.
Also, the workshop seek to strengthen the institutional capacities in applying the procedural and substantive rules governing the juvenile justice system and enhancing the capabilities of the participants in the application of restorative justice programs and non-custodial measures.
The provisions of national law and the principles of international law emphasize the importance of taking children’s specificities into account, when they get into contact with the police, prosecutors, and courts as well as in detention institutions, respecting established principles and rules governing the powers of those working in these agencies, and conditions and controls for the detention of children.

The main output of this workshop was a noticeable enhancement on the trainees’ knowledge regarding children issues and the role of the female police officers when dealing with children, this was observed through the results of the pre and post assessment conducted for the trainees, as the results show an average learning gain of +85% on the trainees knowledge post finalizing the training.
Also, the trainees were requested to assess the degree of their benefit according to a five Likert scale of the training per three main pillars, the results are illustrated in the table below:
1-	Benefit of the training topics
2-	Acquiring new skills
3-	Level evolution

Benefit of Training Topics	Acquiring new skills	Level evolution	Total 
Out of 45 
Strongly Agree 	14/15	13/15	15/15	42 out of 45 
Agree	1/15	1/15	0	2 out of 45 
Neither agree nor disagree	0	1/15	0	1 out of 45 
Disagree	0	0	0	0 out of 45 
Strongly disagree	0	0	0	0 out of 45 

 
Participants Perceptions of the Benefit of the Training Topics, Acquiring new skills, Level Evolution.

The Fifth workshop took place in Aden, during July 21 – 23, 2020. It aimed to focus on the role of female police in investigating and dealing with cases of Violence against women and domestic violence for the benefit of 15 officers. The main topics introduced during this workshop were:
•	Introduction to the concept of domestic violence and violence against women and its types-(Characteristics of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women).
•	Police work and its role in the protection of the women and girls against violence 
•	The treatment of women and girls within the law enforcement agencies.
•	Women’s policing comprehensive response to protect and address domestic violence and violence against women.
•	Situational and needs analysis - and mechanisms for promoting formal attitudes and community-based strategies to develop effective protection responses to domestic violence and violence cases against women.
•	Techniques of interviewing women and girls who are victims of violence and writing investigation records-(Current Status and Best Practices).
•	Protection of women during arrest and search procedures.
•	Alternatives to detention and their effectiveness in treating women and girls during police procedures.
•	Protection measures for women and girls during detention.
An enhancement on the trainees knowledge in investigating and dealing with cases of Violence against women and domestic violence was perceived with an average increase of  86%, the enhancement on the trainees knowledge were assessed through  pre and post training’s questionnaires, utilizing the learning gain formula to assess their benefit of the training.
Learning Gain Formula= (Post test Score-Pre-Test Score)/ (Maximum Score-Pre-test Score).

Output 2.1: Technical support is provided to the police unit to support mainstreaming of gender into the MoI. 
During the project lifetime, a gender expert was hired to provide daily support to the unit, in addition to developing gender sensitive policies, promotional materials, messages and interventions and provide them with daily support. The expert developed the policy on how gender should be mainstreamed at the MoI work, structure, procedures and services, the process is entailing a desk research, one to one interview to guarantee a rigorous policy based on the current facts and needs of the sector. 

In addition to that, PRI managed to have a strong relationship with the senior management of both the MoI and the female police unit through organizing different sets of meetings as follows:
1)	A meeting with the vice president of the ministry of interior was organized on February 29th, 2020, for the purpose of discussing the site hand over of the female police academy. 
2)	A meeting with each of the General Director of projects in the MoI along the General Director of training in the MoI, and secretary of the vice minister of interior on the first of March 2020 was held for the purpose of discussing of  the developed training courses, and  the delivery of the courses methodology for the police officers. Also, during the meeting the infrastructure work was raised, concerning the circumstances of conflicts and an agreement on six locations to be renovated to meet women needs were identified.
3)	On July 2020, A meeting with the vice minister of Interior was held to discuss and agree on main milestones related to the implementation of the project interventions. As a result of the meeting, a memorandum from the MoI was sent to PRI documenting the points which were agreed on during the meeting related to the completion of the renovation of the police school after a temporary suspension of the work at the school due to Corona pandemic.
 The implementation of a specialized training course of the role of women police in dealing with children issues.
4)	On August 2020, PRI and the MoI held a meeting, to approve the curriculum, and agree on women's police uniforms, and an Identification of the women candidates for the training courses on the role of women's police in dealing with cases of violence against women and specialized training courses on children's issues and the role of women's police.
5)	On October 2020, another meeting was held with regards to the curriculum to be taught at the Academy and the curriculum was officially approved. 
6)	On September 2020, PRI and the MoI held a meeting, during which, candidates were identified for the second training course.
7)	On September 2020, PRI and the MoI held a meeting to discuss the bidding procedures for the policewomen military uniform, as well as the tender for furnishing the Women's Police School, a committee was formalized from both parties, and decisions were taken and the bidders were selected. 
8)	On October 2020, PRI and the MOI held a meeting, to discuss the following main topics:
1.	 Choosing the six locations to be a friendly unit to the work of the women's police.
2.      Arrangement and agreement on the travel date of the team to Jordan.          
3. Setting the opening date for the women's police school.      
9)	 On September 2020, Discussion of the gender policy paper towards the importance of its adoption with the MoI in order to strengthening the capacity of female police officers in the police and security sector in Yemen. 
10)	On September 2020, A meeting was held with the purpose of discussing the implementation of the first workshop for the female police officers in the school, and nominating the participants names to be enrolled in this training. 
11)	On October 2020, A meeting was held to discuss the progress on the work done at the six locations chosen to be a friendly units to the work of the women's police.
12)	 On December 2020, PRI and MoI held a meeting to discuss 2021 training plan , discuss the main outlines of the plan with the training unit with representation of the Undersecretary of the training and rehabilitation unit at the Ministry of Interior and Brigadier Alia Saleh, Director General of family protection directorate which the female police unit is affiliated to.
Output 2.2: Improved infrastructure of the unit and training locations for female police officers
At the first year of the project, the work started on finding a location for the unit and the academy, however, this process was a major challenge for the project due to the conflict. A number of locations were identified, and a committee was organized by the MoI and PRI to assess these locations. However, for security reasons many of these locations were excluded, and the other locations were excluded because they are completely destroyed and need more money for their renovation than what is included in the budget. Based on the committee report, PRI approached the deputy minister of interior to identify other locations. 
PRI team conducted a mutual meeting with each of the MoI, family protection directorate and the female police unit representatives to agree on the required renovation needs and technical construction aspects. This meeting was held by the management teams of both parties and technical expertise represented by a construction engineer from PRI side and another construction engineer from the Yemeni side, specifications of the construction tender was drafted and PRI issued two procurements as follows:
1)	A call for procurement for infrastructure work of the female police academy to be conducted in Aden released on August 2019 in the official newspaper, the total number of bids received were 10. Kindly see Annex No. 5 for the procurement request  
2)	A call for procurement for the infrastructure work of the female police unit in the MoI to be conducted in Aden was released in July 2019 in the official newspapers, Three bids were received and an internal committee evaluated the bids. The bid was awarded for a construction company which have started the designing work and provided PRI with a proposed sketch of the renovation work to be done- Kindly see Annex No. 6 procurement request
At the beginning of the second year of the project, the decision of choosing the contractor to work on the renovation of female police academy was taken by a committee of representatives from the MoI, female police unit and PRI; however due to the conflict in Yemen the site handover delayed until the 19th of March 2020. (Please see annex No. 7 – Delivery of the Academy Site).
Since November 2019, PRI conducted a mutual meeting with all of the MoI, family protection directorate and the women policing department representatives to agree on the required rehabilitation needs and technical constructive aspects, and kept following up with the MoI to handover the site, the approval form the MoI to start the work on the renovation sent on the 24th of February 2020; Two follow up meetings were conducted to discuss the  handover of the site of the female police academy, the first meeting was on the 29th  of February 2020 with the vice  Minister of Interior , the second meeting was conducted on 1st of March 2020, with the purpose of  the discussion of the implementation methodology of the renovation work in the academy, this meeting was held with each of the director of together foundation in Yemen and the director of planning, general director of projects and general director of training and secretary of the vice Minister of Interior, affiliated for the police directorate in Yemen. 

Accordingly, on March 19th, 2020, a hand over of the site for the purposes of construction, and renovation of the female police academy in (ADEN, KHOUR-MKASAR / ALNASIR) has delivered, and the work started and accomplished 50% of its infrastructure till 22nd of April; (please see attached annex No.8 - the report) 

Challenges encountered during the implementation of the renovation and rehabilitation work of the female police academy 
- The most important challenges that met the work of the academy is the political tension in Aden in addition to the destruction of most buildings and organs of the Ministry of Interior in Aden, where no building or suitable site for the project was found until August 2019 and after the identification of the current location in August 2019 there were military confrontations between the legitimate government forces in Aden and the forces of the Transitional Council and therefore PRI was not able to start working until March 2020.
- the cost of the reinvention got higher than expected due to the raise of the prices of row materials, and the severe damage that was caused at the selected building , and the security cost that the contractor had to pay to secure his equipment
- After the completion of 50% of the renovation work and after April 22, 2020 the city of Aden was swept large torrents and rain and did not affect the academy site being far from the torrential streams, but the rains made the contractor stop working temporarily and then got the new tension resulting from the political conflict and announced the Transitional Council on April 25 autonomy for Aden and the southern provinces as the outbreak began. In addition to the fact of  work in Ramadan, which resulted in a fewer working hours, where many construction workers prefer not to work during Ramadan, and the contractor submitted an official  letter requesting to postpone the renovation, and rehabilitation  of the female police academy in Aden.
- Due to COVID-19 the work on renovating the academy was stopped in May 2020; PRI communicated with the Dutch Embassy to discuss a reallocation and non-cost extension; a letter dated on July 26, 2020 was sent to the embassy with a detailed reallocated budget and description. the amendment to the contribution agreement between the Embassy and PRI was approved; and PRI resumed the work on the renovation and the contractor finalized the infrastructure work within the female police academy. The work involved; Facades cladding for internal and external partitions;  the completion of rehabilitation works for doors and window’s frames ,  completing ceramic works for floors, soles, and walls for kitchens and bathrooms, complete the iron doors work, completion of window protection nets, completion of aluminium doors and windows works, completion of supply and installation of water tanks; completing the premium outdoor yard fully, completion of internal and external paint works,  completion of the aluminium partitions works, completing the entire site of afforestation,  complete plumbing work, complete the electrical works. The site was covered with a layer of Helson and   a protection net was installed for air conditioner vents. A sample of pictures of the work done are enclosed below, complete contractor report is attached as an Annex to the report. 
It was supposed that the launch of the academy took place in November, but due to security reasons it postponed and expected to be in January 2021. The photos below show the location before and after the intervention 

Moreover, the female police unit was established and provided with the needed furniture and equipment that enable the management to deliver their work easily. 
In addition a special uniform that respects the dignity of the female police and the Yemeni culture was designed and provided to the unit for the benefit of the female police officers. 400 female police officers have the needed tools to carry their work functions. The uniform includes the following items: 
No.	Uniform Items 	Quantity
1.		women's military suit with a tweed + pants	400
2.		Egyptian leather boots	400
3.		Egyptian cotton socks 	400
4.		Blue military bonnet with a sign of a  bird on it 	400
5.		Egyptian cotton underwear	400
6.		Piece of metal with police logo 	400
7.		Military Belt	400
8.		Women's Hijab	400
9.		Military medals	400
10.		Interior Ministry logos in the shoulder 	400
11.		A Rope put from the shoulder into the pocket and sometimes contain whistle. It is called Cordon	400
 
After the renovation of the academy finished, PRI in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior launched two workshops inside the academy for the benefit of 20 female police officers each  in November and December 2020, the female police officers were introduced to specialized topics related to their work such as :
The rights and duties of female police officers, crime scene definition and procedural protocols, investigation protocols, Public Prosecution and initial procedures for means of  Inference, Inspection procedures, identification of  the types of weapons-(Dismantling and installing), Drugs identification, cybercrimes, etc.. 
 
 
In order to enable the female police officer to deliver their work in the field, PRI in consultation with the MOI and the female police unit worked on developing adequate working environments for the female police officers by creating duty location that meet their needs and respects their dignity at the following points: 
Six pilot locations were created that change the working environment for women in the field by enabling them to fulfill their tasks and remove the physical barriers. 

Output 3.1: The role of the unit is promoted, and the public is informed of its mandate and roles
PRI worked on promoting the role of the unit through multiple ways, as PRI worked on producing a documentary about the unit and its mandate and role and the work done within the project to promote the role of the female police officers (Kindly follow the link to watch the video: https://youtu.be/sBZ7cWWsEzA) , and another documentary on the training took place in Amman – Jordan for the female police officers (kindly follow the link for the video: https://youtu.be/J5AtrKNzjuY). 
 PRI designed a promotional material (Brochures) to be distributed in the mosques and schools for the public in different governorates. Also, PRI has worked with a group of journalists to produce media pieces about the unit and women police and its role, through equipping them with the needed information about the topic in order to ensure sustainable production of such promotional materials post the end of the project.   The journalists were encouraged to develop materials that promotes the role of the female officersز 
During the project timeline, PRI collaborated with journalists to promote the role of women police in Yemen through delivering two workshops in Aden in July and August 2020 on "The role of journalists and media professionals in raising awareness about the role of women police" 
The aim of the two workshops was to provide journalists and media professionals with information on the importance of the role of women police, through introducing them to a set of topics related to:
•	Raising community awareness about women's policing, gender aspects and standards for the treatment of women and girls in law enforcement agencies.
•	Mechanisms to promote the work of women's police in Yemen and sensitivity to gender.
•	 The role of women police in the protection of children during arrest and search procedures (current situation and promotion mechanisms of the protection for children).
•	Security media (introduction / objectives and functions of security media / modern trends in security media / challenges facing security media), media means and applications.
•	Strengthening the security role of women police through news reporting.
•	Technical training-media reporting and media writing. 
The total number of participants were 30 participants – (15 participant per training); with (43.3% females and 56.7% Males).
The main trainings outputs were:
A)	 A group of media materials prepared by the journalists and the media personnel in the two trainings. Those media materials were part of a competition held during the workshops between the trainees, eight awards were given for the best media materials produced by the trainees-(three and five awards for the first and second trainings respectively), according to the jury decision. The materials were published for the community to fulfil the objective of the training regarding raising the community awareness towards the importance of the women police officer’s role. PRI hired a consultant to monitor the number of viewers of the media materials to be able to assess the extent of media coverage of the society. Per the consultant feedback a total of 43,000 of views and follow-ups of media materials on all the platforms and social media which the journalists used to publish their reports and information materials on strengthening the role of the women police. Along to a total of 3,033 shares and likes of the media materials produced by the Journalists.
B)	An enhancement on the trainees knowledge of  the women police role in Yemen was perceived with an average increase of 14% and 15%  respectively for each training, the enhancement on the trainees knowledge were assessed through  pre and post training’s questionnaires, utilizing the learning gain formula to assess their benefit of the trainings held:
Learning Gain Formula= (Post test Score-Pre-Test Score)/ (Maximum Score-Pre-test Score).




 
Media Coverage 
Organized by Penal Reform International - The conclusion of the workshop to strengthen the role of women police in the capital, Aden

The conclusion of the special workshop, the role of the media, to spread awareness of the role of the women police

Yemen News: The conclusion of the workshop to enhance the role of women police in the temporary capital, Aden


While in relation to the social media campaign; the money allocated for it was reallocated. 



Output 4.1 Dissemination of the lessons learnt and good practice from the project at an international level
The dissemination of the lessons learnt and good practice from the project at an international level  was intended to be delivered  through an international advocacy, unfortunately two major global events in which the Yemeni experience of the project was supposed to be presented and Yemeni MOI was supposed to participate were postponed due to COVID-19, the crime commission in Vienna, were a side event was supposed to be organized to talk about role of Yemeni female police during conflict and their contribution to building peace and security in Yemen, and the crime congress in Japan, were a side event were supposed to be organized to discuss the establishment of Yemeni female police department and its impact of peace and security. The two events were postponed till 2021.a side event in Geneva in Sept during the human rights council meeting, a side event in New York during the Security Council meeting.
 PRI hoped to go to New York to organise a side event around the security council but as we discussed had to amend these plans because of COVID-19 and so PRI  instead have published a briefing  paper  titled with " A policy briefing for the international community and national authorities with case studies on Yemen and the Central African Republic"which will serve as an advocacy tool with both international and local actors moving forward to get more attention on police penitentiary/ criminal justice system generally in the work in fragile and conflict-affected settings. In developing this briefing we had a consultative process to ensure that our analysis and recommendations were useful, relevant and evidenced-based. Within this  we sought the expertise of international actors including UN peacekeepers, the former Executive Director of International Corrections and Prisons Association, UN Development Programme, Swedish Prison and Probation Service who have undertaken significant work in peacekeeping/corrections, local actors working in Yemen and Central African Republic as well as PRI staff, and it was published late in December 2020. IV. Updated Risk Assessment
Risk	Likelihood	Impact High/medium
Negative	Management
COVID-19 Pandemic: 	Unpredictable 	Negative 	PRI Management have communicated the impact of COVID-19 and Natural disasters encountered during the reporting period on the progress of the proposed activities under this project with the Dutch counterparts and discussed the possibility of the need of no-cost extension and the slight shift in minimal activities as communicated by PRI regional Directorate, yet PRI was able to deliver the required activities with slight shifting in time. 
Political instability in Yemen  
	High/ medium 	
On the political level, there was no progress in implementing the Riyadh Agreement. In July 2020, President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi assigned Dr. Moein Abdel-Malek to form a new government, but until the date of this report, the government was not formed.
As for the governorate of Aden, a new governor was appointed at the end of July 2020. Which led to the delay in the implementation of some activities such as the building of the female police administration and the implementation of 6 friendly units.	regular risk assessment done by MENA regional office in consultation with the project team based in Yemen and with MOI. 
PRI tolerated low-medium range of risks inherent in field work, and in districts where high risk is associated with field work, relevant activities were moved to safe areas, as a way to mitigate the risk, and make sure that the project goal and objectives are not jeopardized by temporary developments on the ground.        
Regional offices have the experience and expertise in many geographic areas in the MENA region, Asia, Africa, central Europe, to determine when work is safe to be carried out and will adapt their work accordingly to achieve the sought-for results.
Additionally, PRI worked through local staff who are well trained and neutral, and not targeted, with a low risk to their safety and security.
In relation to regional and international experts, PRI used all safety procedures followed by the UN, including staying in safe hotels and avoiding high risk areas; additionally, the MOI is willing to provide security and guards for the experts if needed.  
PRI stayed on continuous communication with the related stakeholders represented mainly by the MoI, to be updated on the progress and the exchange information on the project activities.

Access to professional development for women police officers

	Medium / low 	A barrier to the career advancement of women in policing may take the form of inequitable access to training courses, and eventually to promotion in their career. A male dominated work may affect the equal opportunities offered to women.  In addition police employees, including women, living in remote and rural communities have less opportunities, especially if the course involves an extended residential component. Women with both family and career responsibilities may be less inclined to apply for training.	PRI’s project objective is to provide the right for women to join the police forces and receive adequate training for a range of different work responsibilities. PRI worked on deploying the women in different field areas. However, as part of the sustainability of the project goal and objectives, through regular meetings with the senior officials of the MoI. PRI  built a curricula that require involving the women police in the future training and academic course. The training by PRI will empower women to become a significant number and an asset in the police units. PRI will also provide best practices related to equal training opportunities for women in distant areas from the centre.

Lack of social support 
	Medium	The lack of social support can be another barrier for women to succeed in their duties in the field. A police woman required to intervene at the different levels of the justice sector might face the strain and the effects of environmental or external barriers. women trained might not sustain their jobs,	PRI previous experiences in the justice sector in Yemen, including at high managerial level, showed a high social support for women equal participation. Historically Yemen, was leading in women participation as judges, and even as police officers. Prior to the conflict two thousand women officers were part of the police units, the armed conflict and the humanitarian situation forced them to leave (only sixty stayed). The project will build on previous successes, and social support to re-introduce the female element to police, empowered by professional training.
PRI  conducted advocacy campaigns with senior opinion leaders in the society, and will build the capacity of the media outlets to gain support of the different components of the society, including a follow up by media to the efficient interventions of women police in fields of women justice, and children in conflict with the law..