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Socialist party militants from South Yemen, 1986

A classroom in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. It says "Eradication of Illiteracy is a Duty" or "Literacy is a Duty" (both are translations of the term maḥw al-ʼumiyyah). From the National Literacy Campaign of 1985. 83% of targeted illiterate citizens passed the literacy tests.

The People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen lasted from 1967 to 1990. It made great strides in organizing the people of this small country at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula to overcome poverty and underdevelopment.

Anti-war demonstration in South Yemen by the members of the Yemeni Socialist Party, 1986

Yemeni nurse from South Yemen, during the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen, between 1970 and 1990

Yemeni children at school during the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen, between 1970 and 1990

Photos: South News Network

SANA’A — On Friday, Yemenis will commemorate the revolution that drove the British colonizers out of Aden on Nov. 30, 1967, after an occupation that lasted 129 years.  The anniversary comes at a time when divisions between southerners has reached new heights, with some supporting the continued unity between north and south Yemen and participation in the National Dialogue Conference (NDC) and others calling for a complete secession of the south from the north.  Those who call for separation represent multiple factions of the Southern Movement, the most prominent political group in the south.  However, the majority of those who support the unity and participation in the NDC are affiliates with the Islah Party, one of the biggest political parties in Yemen. Ali Salem Al-Beidh, the former president of South Yemen, delivered a speech prior to Friday’s celebration that called on the Security Council to recognize the southern right to an independent state.He called on the Security Council to send international troops to supervise the separation process, asserting that the south is still occupied by the north of Yemen. In Aden, Southern Movement factions issued a statement calling on residents of Lahj, Abyan and Dalea’ to gather Friday in the Al-Orood Square in Aden. According to the statement, the gathering aims to unify the southerners and to boycott the NDC, now rescheduled for mid-December. Bassam Al-Qadi, a leader of the Southern Movement, said the protest shows the southerners’ determination to regain their country just as they liberated themselves from British colonization. He said he hopes all southerners will flock to Aden to attend the celebration that calls for secession.