The rights of women in the Middle East
Nada Al-Ahdal writes about the restrictions women in the Middle East face, calls on the world to help girls, and asks parents to choose their daughters' education and independence.
Our Dreams Thrive A project to end child marriage through education
Nada Foundation is investing in the generation that will rebuild Yemen when the civil war ends. Its Our Dreams Thrive project reaches out to girls displaced by the country’s devastating violence and conflict. Educating girls protects their human rights and changes traditional attitudes to early marriage. Education builds confidence and dignity, and it raises girls’ hopes of achieving their dreams. That is why education is the basis for social change and economic growth in Yemen. Preparing future leaders, even while the fighting goes on, is the first step towards long-term stability and economic development in the region.
More about the project
Nada's story
In 2013, aged 11, Nada Al-Ahdal fled her home in Yemen one week before she was to be married by force.
Her video message was watched 8 million times in under three days and translated into more than 40 languages. It helped lead the Yemeni government to introduce laws criminalising child marriage, and her effort grew into Nada Foundation.
What we do
Three programmes that work together: protection, education, and awareness and empowerment.
Protection
Safe Havens
A safe home for girls escaping early marriage or violence at home, with support at every step.
Education
Our Dreams Thrive
Scholarships and learning that help girls build their skills and shape their own future.
Awareness and empowerment
Awareness programmes
Conversations with families and communities about the harm of early marriage and the rights of the child.
From Nada's blog
Empowering girls: Nada Al-Ahdal
Nada Al-Ahdal explains why empowering girls, and rallying parents and community leaders, is crucial to ending child marriage.
Campaigns
Our Dreams Thrive, part two: open a school in your village
Through Our Dreams Thrive, Nada Foundation helps people open a school in their village. Local volunteers coordinate with teachers; the foundation provides the curriculum, training, supervision and reports, and children learn for free.
Ending child marriage in Yemen
In Yemen, which has no legal minimum age of marriage, two-thirds of marriages involve underage brides, 44 percent of them under 15. A call on Yemeni officials to make child marriage illegal.
Safe Havens
Nada Foundation has taken on a project that helps girls who were forced into early marriage and girls who have suffered domestic violence. The project works with the security services to rescue underage girls and protect them, following the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Yemen has ratified.
Awareness programmes
The foundation runs an awareness programme that challenges the benefits people wrongly see in early marriage. It answers concerns about traditional values and questions about the rights of the child, which Yemen is bound to respect under international law. It also sets out clearly the harm this practice does to society and to each person.
- End child marriage
- Child recruitment
- Education in Yemen
How we help
We are very glad that we have protected 11 girls, saved them from forced child marriage and placed them safely with families we trust.
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Save the girls
Saving a girl is a sacred act. When we have the chance, we must do our duty and protect our little sisters.
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Our Dreams Thrive in pictures
What people say
“Nada Foundation has helped hundreds of girls succeed and has saved them from early marriage. I am proud of this organisation.”
Ezzat MustafaJournalist“It never occurred to me that there could be an organisation led by a child, working for girls and succeeding in great projects that have helped to end child marriage in Yemen.”
Abdelsalam SalehGraphic designer“The world has the right to know the strength of a Yemeni child who created a human rights organisation and achieved real success on the ground.”
Adel ShamsanPolitical analyst“It is time for girls to live in safety, as long as someone stands up for them and carries their voice to the world. Thank you, Nada Foundation.”
Waseem AhmedJournalistWhat we stand for
Our mission
We work to provide shelters, schools and ways to reduce the risks that threaten childhood. A safe childhood, a promising future.
Our goals
- Ending child marriage
- Protecting girls from violence
- Supporting girls in education
- Legal support to protect children
- Protecting children’s rights
Our dreams
We all dream of freedom, peace and happiness. We dream of carrying girls’ voices to the world. We dream of being among the world’s changemakers.
How you can help
Donate
Your gift protects a girl and helps her back to school.
Volunteer or partner
Share your time, your skills or your organisation's network.
Spread the word
Learn about child marriage and share what you learn with the people around you.
Recognition and partners
In 2020, Nada Foundation received the With and For Girls Award from Purposeful in London.
We welcome partnerships with every organisation that shares our goal of ending child marriage.
Contact us
Do you need help now, or have a question about our work? We are here.