Ending child marriage in Yemen

Too Young to Wed, 2011: Stephanie Sinclair traveled to Yemen for an assignment on child brides. Here, she captures Nujood Ali and her younger sister, a couple of years after 10-year-old Ali fled an abusive husband in his 30s.

• Campaigners in Yemen want law against child marriage in the country


• Around one third of girls married before they are 18, according to the UN


• Nawal Ba Abbad says younger marriage leads to more complications during childbirth


• Some girls are sent into arranged marriages as young as 9 years old

Editor's note: Dr Nawal Ba Abbad is a doctor from Sanaa, Yemen, who in partnership with White Ribbon Alliance Yemen has campaigned tirelessly for a law against child marriage in her country.

(CNN) -- Throughout my career as a doctor I have traveled from the mountains of Yemen to its deserts. I have seen first hand what happens when children give birth to children. I have seen the tombstones of girls who died too young because they married too young.

Yemen is one of only two countries in the world with no legislation on a minimum age of marriage.

With a national dialogue underway to establish a new constitution, there is now a chance to establish a safe age of marriage, protecting young girls who are currently married off as young as 9 years old.

As I advocate to end child marriage in Yemen, I always remember my best friend at school. We would talk about our future and what we wanted to be when we grew up. We had big aspirations, as young girls should. My friend was the smartest girl in our class. Everything felt possible.

But when she was 13, she was told to leave school to prepare for her wedding. Her dreams ended. We were all so upset. I still remember her wedding day as we tried to support her. It was such a sad day for us all, a stark comparison for so many whose wedding day is remembered as the happiest of their lives.

We have a chance to establish a safe age of marriage, protecting girls who are brides as young as nine years old.

Nawal Ba Abbad

I was lucky. My parents did not want me to marry as a child. They were my firewall, protecting me from the pressure of all the people in my community who said I should marry. They were determined to give me a brighter future.

As I carried on my studies, and became a doctor, the image of my friend's wedding always stayed with me. So many girls in my country don't have the right to say "No, I don't want that man or this kind of life." My friend moved away and we didn't stay in touch.

My friend's story is not unusual. The UN estimates that one in three girls in Yemen are married before 18. Around the world, approximately 14 million girls are married as children every year.

The right to choose

To think of all the girls in my country who are forced into marriage, lose their personalities, their happiness and just have to obey what they are told to do, is what drives me forward in my work.

Child brides don't talk about it, but they suffer. A recent study in Yemen has shown that girls who have their rights taken from them in this way do not forgive their parents, and there is a breakdown of family relationships.

11-year-old: I ran away from being sold

As a doctor I see the complications young girls are suffering from as they give birth before their bodies are ready. Girls not Brides, a civil society network campaigning against child marriage, suggests that girls under 15 are five times more likely to die giving birth.

Child brides: A global problem

Read more: Yemeni girl goes on YouTube to plea for education, not marriage

Yemen has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. According to the White Ribbon Alliance, one in 90 women die in childbirth in my country. I cannot bear to continue to watch young women giving up their lives and having to give birth too young.

We must support our girls and women by providing better maternal health care, access to family planning and safe abortion.

We must work together to end early marriage so that all girls have the right to choose when and whom to marry and are able to finish their education, strengthening the bonds that are so important to us, with our friends and our family.

We know how to fix these problems. We can tackle many issues if we tackle early marriage.

Together in partnership with the White Ribbon Alliance in Yemen and many other activists we have been campaigning for a safe age of marriage for many years. Since the uprising in 2011, a new constitution is being drafted in my country.

This is an opportunity to establish a minimum age of marriage. But it is a narrow window of opportunity.

Too often girls have no voice, no choice, no access. I am determined to help them have a better future. My friend did not fulfill her dream, but by ending child marriage together we can make sure that girls in Yemen and around the world can fulfill theirs.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nawal Ba Abbad.

Inside the world's largest mall

• The Dubai Mall gets more visitors than the Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls and Disney World combined


• The shopping complex is the world's largest, spanning the length of more than 50 football pitches


• It cost $20b to build, and employs a staff of 20,000

(CNN) -- It may seem stunning that one of the most visited tourist attractions on the planet is a mall. Attracting 75 million visitors a year, The Dubai Mall gets more foot traffic than the Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls and Disney World combined.

Of course, The Dubai Mall is no ordinary shopping center. Billed as the world's largest (in terms of total floor space) by the Guinness World Records when it first opened in 2008, the mall is larger than 50 football pitches.

It houses 1,200 stores, an Olympic-sized ice skating rink, an aquarium, the world's largest shoe store, 14,000 parking spaces, and a Boeing 737 flight simulator. It was no small investment; the entire complex cost $20 billion to build.

"It's a city within a city," admits Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar, the development company responsible for building the mall.

It's a city within a city

Mohamed Alabbar, Emaar

Dubai Mall attracts 75 million people a year

Dubai Mall's famous fountain show

Sharks and otters inside a mall?

As one can imagine, running such an enterprise is challenging, and it takes a lot of man power. With 20,000 employees, the mall's staff is equivalent to the size of a small army.

"To make it work, you need to have a tremendous amount of people that are on the job 24 hours a day," says David Macadam, CEO of the Middle East Council of Shopping Centers.

Though the mall closes at 10pm (midnight on the weekends), in some ways it is busiest after hours, when a cleaning crew of 100 sweep, vacuum and polish over 1.5m square feet of space every night.

"It's a huge mall," notes Ahmen Hussein, the night shift supervisor for cleaning. "We have to finish before the opening hour. Sometimes we only have five or six hours to do it. It's hard, but we like the challenge."

An even more arduous cleaning task sits just outside the malls doorstep. The Burj Khalifa Lake -- an 150m liter artificial body of water that also houses The Dubai Fountain -- requires daily maintenance, partly because the desert climate itches to contaminate it with sand.

"The job is to target the areas where we have the highest sand accumulation, and clean it in a systematic way," says Jean Hanna, director of operations for The Dubai Fountain. In addition to the human staff, there are underwater robotic vacuums employed to undertake the task.

Despite the manpower that goes in to running the mall, Alabbar concedes that even more can be done to ensure it lives up to its full potential:

"We've tried really hard to make sure it's prestigious, respected, looks after people, customers, companies, shareholders -- the whole thing. I think we're getting there. We still have to work a little bit, but we're getting there."

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27 photos of glorious Ireland

County Kerry: Clogher Beach with "Three Sisters" mountains in the background, Dingle Peninsula

County Kerry: A look upward through an old chapel in the "Old Graveyard" at Cloghane on the Dingle Peninsula

County Kerry: Brandon Bay harbor on the Dingle Peninsula

County Kerry: After a day exploring the Dingle Peninsula, a stop in Dingle town for dinner is in order.

County Kerry: Murphy's Pub, Dingle

County Kerry: The Ring of Kerry is "a must for any trip to Ireland, with its spectacular views all along the way," said Annie Love.

County Kerry: Entering the Gap of Dunloe

County Kerry: The North side of Great Blasket Island

County Kerry: Ruins on Great Blasket Island

County Cork: Bantry House, with the bay behind, is close to Dingle and the Ring of Kerry. Jennifer Goan shot this photo from the top of the terraced garden behind the house.

County Cork: Blarney House, a Scottish baronial-style mansion that was built on the grounds of Blarney Castle in 1874.

County Cork: "The view from the top of Blarney Castle is breathtaking!" said Mohit Samant.

County Galway: Travel agent Mackenzie Melfa's family spent a few nights at Ballynahinch Castle, "surrounded by an incredible estate which we all loved exploring."

County Galway: Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay. Memory stones like the one in this picture are found all over the place, says Agata Mleczko.

County Galway: Inishmore is rugged and you can walk straight out to the cliffs of Dun Aengus fort. "All of the island inhabitants are friendly, including a curious horse," Laura Dellal said.

County Galway: "A cup of tea is your best friend in the cold, along with some potato leek soup and soda bread," wrote Dellal.

County Galway: Kylemore Abbey in Connemara

County Galway: Kristen Jackson said she couldn't put her camera down in this area, known for its sheep. "There were sheep everywhere and it was like they were posing for me."

County Clare: Cruising down the Atlantic coast through the village of Doolin.

County Clare: The dramatic Cliffs of Moher. Click on the double arrows below to see more.

County Clare: Not sure where to go in the town of Ballyvaughan? Just stop and have some tea.

County Antrim: Giant's Causeway, on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland

County Antrim: Calm before the storm at Giant's Causeway. "It was a beautiful morning with a fantastic tour guide who told us the tales of Finn McCool and the science that created the causeway. By the time we left, the sky was gray, the waves were crashing and the wind could blow you right over. It was pretty amazing!" Kristen Jackson said.

County Antrim: Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge near Ballintoy on the Antrim Coast. Some of the most beautiful areas of Ireland are in the North, Kevin Kane said.

County Antrim: The Old Coast Guard Station at Torr Head

Dublin: Trinity College Library Dublin, the library of Trinity College and the University of Dublin, and the largest library in Ireland. Here is the Long Room, which houses some of the oldest books.

Dublin: The best ride in town: A tram runs through the center of Dublin, bypassing traffic. "I have always loved to visit Dublin," said Richard Gornik. "I have been going there since 1979 and I have seen an enormous change during that time. It's a vibrant city with interesting pubs, great dining and people on the go."

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• CNN readers share their favorite views of Ireland


• Not to miss: The Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula and the Northern coast


• "Make notes for your next trip -- you will surely be returning," said Kevin Kane

(CNN) -- Kevin Kane's love affair with Ireland began in 2000, when he and his then-fiancee piggybacked on a trip with his brothers and their wives.

The 39-year-old financial adviser from Havertown, Pennsylvania, has been back six times since, taking his now wife, brothers and mother on various trips that spanned nearly every county in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Ahead of St. Patrick's Day, Kane and other CNN readers shared their best memories and photos from mesmerizing visits to the Emerald Isle.

The green and rugged Dingle Peninsula, in the southwest of Ireland, is Kane's favorite destination, he wrote, though "the Glens of Antrim are spectacular in November, the Ring of Kerry cannot be described adequately by James Joyce himself on a clear day in June, and the vibrancy of Galway and Westport are enough to recharge the soul as you wander joyfully from Tobercurry to Ennis."

Kane offered a few tips for the first-time visitor:

Don't be overly ambitious on your first trip. "Pick a few towns to stay in and do several days in each. One-hundred miles between towns is not a two-hour drive as you might expect. If there are no major motorways, it could easily become a harrowing four-hour trip for the novice European driver."

Talk to the locals in pubs. "Ask questions, don't fake a brogue, and listen to the suggestions they are sure to make about what to see in that immediate area. The Irish are fiercely parochial and love to show off their town's hidden secrets to tourists."

Do something off the beaten path. "Take a ferry out to an island to walk around a bit, find an Abbey ruin in a field to explore, take a flask of Jameson and hike up a mountain. Get lost in what Ireland is, and has to offer."

In summary, Kane said: "Keep your itinerary reasonable, soak up every minute you are there, and make notes for your next trip, for you will surely be returning. It's that kind of place."

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What are your Ireland travel tips?