Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawar said Saturday that the rate of illiterate women in Yemen declined to 60% this year from 76.3% in 1994.
At the opening of the fourth annual conference of Yemeni women held in Sana'a, Mujawar noted that the number of Yemeni females who joined primary and secondary schools has increased to represent one third of Yemeni students at these schools.
The rate of female university students also rose to 28% out of the total amount of Yemeni university students, he said.
In his speech that was delivered by Minister of Information Ahmed Hassan Al-Lawzi, the premier pointed out that Yemen has made strides in women's education saying the number of female university students outnumbers males at some universities and that the number of female lecturers at the government universities increased as well.
"There are about 984 female lecturers out of which 803 lecturers who teach at the government colleges," he added.
At the event, Mujawar said there is a remarkable progress on women's rights particularly with women being seen in various sectors mainly medically and politically, a matter which illustrates the government is doing its utmost to empower women in the belief that women play a crucial role in the society.
Yemen has over 2800 girl soldiers, 75 female officers and 76 female judges as well as 414 women with technical and administrative posts, he said.
"The presence of Yemeni females at the medical sector helped reduce the mortality rates among mothers as well as improving the family care services."
"The country third economic and social development plan included new terms recommending the empowerment of women and combating all forms of discrimination against them."
Last week, the government approved the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to be among its priorities regarding the rights of women, Mujawar concluded.