WASHINGTON, D.C. — This afternoon, Demand Progress is hosting a virtual briefing on the Yemen peace talks, the blockade, and the United States’ role in Yemen. The conversation will feature Yemeni journalists Sumaya Ali Raja and Shuaib M. Almosawa.
The briefing is co-hosted by the Yemen Relief & Reconstruction Foundation, Action Corps, DAWN MENA, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, Just Foreign Policy, MADRE, Peace Action, and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
WHAT: A virtual briefing for Hill staff, the U.S. Yemen advocacy community, and media regarding the Yemen peace talks, the blockade, and the United States’ role
WHEN: Thursday, June 8, 2-3pm Eastern Time
WHERE: Zoom. You will receive details following completion of the RSVP form.
WHO: The briefing will be moderated by Dr. Aisha Jumaan, president and founder of the Yemen Relief & Reconstruction Foundation.
Confirmed speakers include:
Sumaya Ali Raja, a Yemeni journalist and political activist. In December 2005 she became the first woman to announce herself as a candidate for the Presidency of Yemen.
Ali Raja grew up in Taiz. At age 14 she followed her sisters to study at a North Carolina high school. She went on to study political science at Southwest Missouri State and broadcast journalism at the University of Kansas. In the late 1970s she and her sister Jamila were among the first female TV newscasters in Yemen.
She later lived in England, doing consultancy work for the BBC and Channel 4, and then lived in France. After the September 11 attacks she created and ran the Yemen-French Forum to help explain Yemen to French policy-makers. She currently lives in Yemen.
Ali Raja announced her candidacy at an Arab women’s conference, ‘From Words to Actions’, held in Sana’a in December 2005. In January 2007 she announced her intention to establish a liberal political party, Al Bushra Party, “to achieve equality between men and women, preserve heritage, and enhance the rights of children”.
Shuaib M. Almosawa, a freelance journalist based in Sana’a, Yemen. He was born in Yemen’s famously beautiful Ibb province to conservative but forward-looking parents. Under the advice of his father, Shuaib moved to Sana’a in 2004 to study English and pursue a career in journalism.
After spending a few years freelancing for Yemeni publications, Shuaib joined the Yemen Observer in 2008 and was made editor-in-chief of the newspaper in January of 2012.
As a freelancer, Shuaib’s works have appeared in several publications including the New York Times, Foreign Policy, the Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, the Independent, BuzzFeed, and Inter Press Service. Shuaib has also appeared on the BBC World Service and YLE radio and television.