The “International Conference on Challenges Facing Women’s Studies in the 21st Century” was held in Sana’a (12 – 14 September, 1999). The conference was organized by the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center (ERWSC) – Sana’a University. This is a research center and an academic women’s studies program that was established in 1993 at the University of Sana’a. The conference carried the slogan: “Empowerment and Equity” and had, as one of its main goals, the empowerment of women through developing women’s studies and theories in several fields, such as law, the media, education and language. Most of the Yemeni participants were affiliated to the ERWSC, and women’s centers and institutions from all over the world also participated. Almost a hundred papers were presented and the sessions covered different areas of women’s studies: violence against women, women’s rights, history and oral history, women’s legal position, women’s work and global challenges, women in the media, women and literature, gendered language, education and gender distinction, challenges for women in development, challenges facing women’s studies centers. Rania Abd al-Rahman from the WMF participated with a paper that analyzes the oral-histories of two Egyptian women who lived at the beginning of this century, entitled “The Relation of Women to the Dominant Social Paradigm.”