Member

Dr. Bilqis Abu Osba is a professor of political science and gender studies at Sana’a University. She has published several books and articles in Arabic and English on a wide range of issues in Yemen and the Arab world. In addition to her academic background, she has extensive experience in government, civil, and humanitarian work. She has served as vice-chair of the National Commission for Corruption Control, and has participated in numerous high-level international conferences and meetings to represent Yemen and Yemeni women.

In 2005, she founded the Awam Cultural Development Foundation, which works to support women’s political participation. She has played a strong role in establishing a number of women’s networks and coalitions that worked to support women’s and youth rights during the 2013-2014 national dialogue (Volunteers for Women’s Rights, and the Coalition to Support Women’s Political Rights), and led many advocacy campaigns with various civil society organizations to strengthen the voice of women in the National Dialogue Conference.

She has also contributed to the establishment of many women’s coalitions in the post-war period of 2015 that work on peacebuilding (the Yemeni Women’s Consensus for Security and Peace in 2015, and the Women’s Solidarity for Security and Peace).

She is currently supporting the political process and peacebuilding in Yemen. She attended three rounds of peace negotiations, first in Kuwait in 2016 at the invitation of the United Nations with a number of Yemeni women to deliver a message to the Yemeni negotiating teams and to the regional and international community about the importance of including women in the negotiations and the need for their presence at the negotiating table. Second, in the Stockholm consultations in 2018 as a member of the Women’s Advisory Group to the Office of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, where consultations were provided on all issues that were under consultation at the time.

She was among a group of women who were invited to attend the signing of the Riyadh Agreement between the legitimate government (recognized internationally) and the Southern Transitional Council under Saudi mediation in 2019.

She was among a group of women who were invited to attend the Yemeni-Yemeni consultations held in Riyadh in April 2022, which led to the formation of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council and its supporting bodies. As a result, she was appointed a member of the Consultative and Reconciliation Commission in support of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council.