Women's studies project in yemen: Experiences from the counterpart's viewpoint

Abstract

From 1996 through 1999, the Empirical Research and Women's Studies Center (ERWSC) of Sana'a University in Yemen was sponsored by the Dutch government. The Department of Women's Studies of Tilburg University was its counterpart. In this article, we describe the rise and fall of this development project from our viewpoint as a counterpart. After a brief description of the larger context, i.e., the situation of women in Yemen, we describe the objectives of the project. We present the developments, including the problems that arose. After indicating the circumstances that caused its premature end, we present a general analysis and evaluation of the project. We conclude that a lack of sophistication in the design of the project, with unclear roles for the main participants and little regard for the context in which the project took place, was one of the factors that contributed to the failure of the project in the end.