Aden (South24 Center)

Hundreds of women staged a protest in Al-Urood Square in Aden's Khormaksar district, the capital of South Yemen, on Saturday (May 10), to voice their opposition to the deteriorating living conditions and the persistent electricity crisis.

The demonstration, described as one of the largest women's mobilizations the city has seen in years, occurred as Aden experiences a suffocating heatwave coupled with power outages lasting over 20 hours daily, amidst a near-complete paralysis of public services.

The women's protest, May 10, 2025 (South24 Center).

Women from various city districts converged, holding placards demanding the provision of electricity and water, payment of overdue salaries, and an improvement in the value of the Yemeni Rial, which neared the 2,600 per US dollar threshold for the first time in history.

One participant told ’South24‘: "Life is no longer tolerable. No electricity, no water, no salaries. Inflation is devouring people, and the authorities are absent."

The women's protest, May 10, 2025 (South24 Center).

The participants expressed their dismay at the governmental authorities' disregard for citizens' suffering, holding the internationally recognized Yemeni government fully responsible for what they termed as the "accelerating collapse of living standards”.

The protesters noted that Aden's electricity crisis is no longer seasonal but has become a daily reality that disrupts residents' sleep and threatens their health and lives, particularly of children, the sick, and the elderly.

A protest participant holds a sign reading “Enough with darkness and betrayal,” May 10, 2025 (South24 Center).

Additionally, some participants warned that the persistence of this situation could trigger a wave of larger and more intense protests, given the absence of any serious signs of solutions from the government or local authorities.