Yes for childhood without marriage!

Kuni wa Kun would welcome Yemen's adoption of the law that sets a minimum age for marriage of both boys and girls. The Yemeni Parliament should consider health and education for young people when discussing the law; children should be children and not bear the responsibilities of an adult marriage.

The World's Longest Toilet Queue

Sana'a, March 21- Today, 2.6 billion people, including almost one billion children, lives without basic sanitation. Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation, that’s preventable deaths each year. Improved sanitation reduces cholera, worms, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition among other maladies that cause disease and death in millions of people. In Yemen only 31 percent of urban populations are linked to the public sanitation network. In rural areas only 21 percent is provided with adequate sanitation coverage.

Enough is enough! 4,000 children are dying every single day just because they don’t have access to sanitation or clean water. It's the biggest killer of children that is completely preventable. The world must unite and vote for politicians to act and stop all these preventable deaths. Hence, on Sunday, March 21st, 2010, Kuni Wa Kun stepped up to volunteer in a worldwide water awareness event. The event was held in Al-Sabe'en Park and was sponsored by GTZ and Yemen Times newspaper. Kuni Wa Kun organized a variety of games and activities to entertain the crowd while they queued. As people came and registered their names, the Kuni Wa Kun activities were taking place. The Kid's Corner provided coloring books, face painting, and story telling. The games corner was full of people playing games such as jump-rope, hopscotch, and miniature football.
Kuni Wa Kun volunteers helped in registration and distribution of food, T-shirts, and caps imprinted with the World's Longest Toilet Queue logo. Along with the activities, a DJ was playing throughout the duration of the event. The day concluded with a distribution of prizes such as mobile phones for raffle winners.






Ba9mat Shabab initiatives are preparing the boundaries between each lane of participant.







Members of Kuni Wa Kun working hand in hand with Ba9mat Shabab, sticking posters of the event.





Another picture of Kuni Wa Kun with the help of Ba9mat Shabab initiative, coloring the sign of Kids Corner.







The crowd, and yet people were still coming!!!









A member of Kuni Wa Kun along with a member of Ba9mat Shabab initiative, waiting for people to approach for signing signatures.






A member of Kuni Wa Kun, painting a kid's face.






The crowd was wonderfully cooperative.




Members of Kuni Wa Kun, busy writing participants' names.





FINALLY, after a very long day! Some of Kuni Wa Kun team got a group picture 

Kuni wa Kun's workshop at Exceed

SANA’A, March 11- With the belief that stereotypes and prejudice against women, must practically, not only theoretically, be addressed and confronted, our team has started targeting different institutes through a series of workshops.

So far, we have completed a successful one in Exceed, with the title of "Shades of Gray". The title implies the simplified view which we tend to have about women, as either victims or deviants, without looking at them as active players in the society, who add more shades and colors to 'the picture'. The main goal of the workshop was to problematize our understanding of Yemeni women in the present day by providing information, conducting short activities and organizing informal discussions/debates. At the same time, we wanted to spark the participants’ interest in our initiative, get their feedback, and recruit potential volunteers. Having our very first workshop allowed us, as Kuni wa Kun, to have a 'hands-on' experience with the participants. However, away from the top-down monologues, our workshop was mainly interactive, offering room to Exceed's students to voice their opinions and concerns, both and good.

Our team, Amal, Areej, Ibrahim, and Najla, would like to sincerely thank Exceed's administration for their warm and enthusiastic response and support.

Kuni wa Kun Celebrates International Women’s Day

On Monday, March 8, 2010, Kuni wa Kun (a new youth-led initiative) held its first activity by co-organizing the International Women’s Day celebration with the US Embassy. The event was held at the National Museum and included the honoring of 6 Yemeni females, an art gallery, and a musical performance.




Guests began arriving at 8:30, walking through the pre-modern inner stone gate of the museum and finding a seat or a spot to stand under the large tent that was set up in the middle of the



Amal al-Ashtal from Kuni wa Kuni opened the program at 9:00, providing a brief statement on women’s international day and the message of Yemeni youth, represented by Kuni wa Kuni.




Mr. Abdul Aziz al-Jindari, director of the National Musuem, then followed with a statement on Yemeni women’s status in ancient history. Ms. Angie Bryan, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US embassy, then gave her keynote speech that was followed with the honoring of 6 Yemeni females for their outstanding courage and achievements.
The 6 women honored were: Nujood al-Ahdal (former child bride), Reem al-Numeiri (former child bride), Tawakol Karaman (notable journalist), Arwa Ali Saeed (survivor of a landmine explosion), Fatima al-Aqel (leader in care provision for blind females), and Jamala al-Baidhani (leader in care provision for handicapped females).













After the honoring, Ms. Angie and Mr. Abdul Aziz cut the ribbon and opened the art gallery that included various works either by or about women. The gallery had a rich variety of exhibits, ranging from miniatures of traditional customs and practices, paintings, to silverwork, and caricature. The gallery was graced by the contributions of the following artists: Areej al-Eryani, Arwa al-Yarimi, Ali al-Ma’bari, Kamal Sharaf, Howaida al-Kibsi, Jumana al-Shami, Nawal al-Mutwakkil, and Sara al-Sami’i.





Throughout the rest of the day, a youth musical band, , entertained the guests with their impressive talents. The band was composed of lead singer Talat al-Rabe’a and players Kunal Ollery (guitar), Karmen AbdulAziz (guitar), Ahmed al-Shaibah(Oud), and Ala’a Haider(guitar).