Yemen Weddings

Yemen weddings and music have taken a new dimension with social media development in the country. While artists created social media channels to reach audiences from around the world, local businesses have created opportunities to create jobs, spread the word, and promote culture and tradition.

This video shows a wedding ceremony that was broadcasted on youtube. The video illustrates Yemeni wedding traditions. The music, the crowd, the rhythm, the groom, the guests, the location, and the vibe are all illustrated in this video.

Yemen Music, Wedding, and culture

Yemen Weddings have evolved to become one’s day lifetime. It’s when you invite your family’s friends and neighbours to attend for at least half an hour on a Thursday afternoon. Some could enjoy a whole afternoon and perhaps stay up until 2 am the following day.

Men and women are in separate halls, each celebrating different wedding ceremonies. Each has its time, musicians, instruments, and dance. Only kids join either party depending on who wishes to take them, and when. Except, when kids are not allowed as per the ceremony’s invitation card.

Wedding halls can be fully customized to reflect a wedding theme with decorations, structure, singer location, and dancing floor.

Yemen Wedding contractors can range from those who rent the place, the groom or bride’s clothes, decorations, and invitation cards and design to wedding day services with artists, singers, dancers, and servants, to after the wedding services such as clean-ups and honeymoon logistics.

The wedding video displayed above shows the amount of advertising that can go into a wedding hall to reach target customers. Yemen’s social life is linked to professional and business environments. The private sector would normally invite other market actors within the sector.

Visa to Yemen

Caution: Please check with the nearest embassy about any updates to the rules and policies. With Yemen’s crisis, you may need to obtain two visas to Yemen, one from the Internationally Recognized Government (IRG) and one from the “de facto government” (DFG). The DFG visa is obtained through the agency that invites you, especially since most visitors in Yemen are engaged in the humanitarian effort.

Entry restrictions: The Government of the Republic of Yemen refuses entry and transit facilities to holders of Israeli passports, or holders of passports containing visas valid or expired for Israel or any indication, such as entry or exit stamps, that the holder has visited Israel.

PASSPORTS: Passport valid for at least 6 months after the date of departure required by all.

VISAS: Required by all except:

(a) nationals of Iraq, Jordan and Syria;

(b) transit passengers continuing their journey by the same or first connecting aircraft provided they hold valid onward or return documentation and are not leaving the airport.

Types of visa: Tourist/Visitor (Single-entry only); Business (Single- and Multiple-Entry); Work; Transit.

Validity: Single-entry (2 months from date of issue); Mutiple-entry (6 months or 1 year from date of issue).

Cost: Tourist/Visitor: £25. Business: £35 (Single-entry); £90 (6-month Multiple-entry); £180 (1-year Multiple-entry).

Application to: Consulate (or Consular section at Embassy); see address section.

Application requirements: Tourist/Visitor: (a) Completed application form. (b) 2 passport-size photos. (c) Return ticket. (d) Valid passport. (e) Fee in postal orders or cash; company cheques are accepted. (f) Stamped, self-addressed envelope for postal applications. (g) Letter from travel company organising the trip. Business: (a)-(f) and (h) Letter from company explaining purpose of visit and nature of business. Work visa: (a)-(f) and (i) Work permit from local authority in Yemen.

Note: Group visas are available for ten or more visitors whose tour has been organised through a travel company in Yemen. Contact the Consulate (or Consular section at Embassy) for details.

Working days required: 3 (personal applications); 5 (postal applications).

Download Visa Application Form this form can be viewed and printed using Adobe Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded for free from the Adobe web site.

Note: This application form should only be used at the Washington Embassy. Non-US residents should use this form only as a reference. Do not adjust the size of this form.

Check with your embassy for any recent changes in immigration laws.

Yemen embassies worldwide.

Yemen: UN envoy underscores need to ‘end the conflict, not merely manage it

While continuing to count on international support to implement, extend, and expand the current truce, Hans Grundberg underscored the “need to end the conflict, not merely manage it”.

‘Build a lasting peace’

The UN envoy lauded the parties for extending the truce until 2 October, continuing “the longest pause in fighting since the war began” over seven years ago.

In addition to humanitarian and economic measures, the agreement provides two months for negotiations to improve Yemeni lives and find further steps to end the conflict.

“We all need to remind ourselves that failure to reach an agreement to extend the truce would lead to renewed cycles of escalation and violence, with predictable and devastating consequences for Yemen’s population,” he said, calling on the parties to “build a lasting peace”.

The first UN-brokered truce came into effect on 2 April and has been extended on a bi-monthly ever since.

Truce holds, militarily

In terms of implementing the current truce, Mr. Grundberg noted that four-and-a-half months in, it “continues to broadly hold in military terms”.

Neither major military operations nor confirmed airstrikes inside the country have occurred, nor have there been cross-border attacks emanating from Yemen.

And while there is “a significant decline” in civilian casualties, he flagged a “worrying development” that child casualties were surging and now constitute about 40 per cent of reported civilian casualties.

He elaborated on one “particularly horrific incident” on 23 July, when mortar fire in Taiz on the residential Zaid al-Mushki district killed one child and injured 10 others, condemning “all such acts of violence”.

Managing incidents

Noting that the truce lacks an independent monitoring mechanism, he encouraged the parties to use its channels, such as the Military Coordination Committee (MCC), to manage these incidents.

He updated that the MCC is expected to meet in Amman at the end of the month and that the parties would also be establishing a Joint Coordination Room to support the MCC through operational de-escalation.A twelve-year-old Yemeni girl and her younger brother who she tutors in mathematics.

© UNICEF/Areej Alghabri

A twelve-year-old Yemeni girl and her younger brother who she tutors in mathematics.

Tangible elements

The Special Envoy outlined key components of the truce, including the opening of Sana’a International Airport to commercial flights and the flow of fuel imports to Hudaydah port.

He reiterated “the pivotal role played by the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM)” in facilitating fuel imports, while warning that funding shortages could result in its closure.

Mr. Grundberg said that the parties continue to “emphasize the need to build on the existing truce” to include more economic and security priorities and durable solutions for political issues.

Expanded agreement

The senior UN official proposed that an expanded truce should include a transparent disbursement mechanism to regularly pay civil servant salaries and civilian pensions, road openings in Taiz and other governates, regular flow of fuel to Hadiyah ports and a “durable ceasefire to prepare for the resumption of a Yemeni-led political process under UN auspices”.

He reminded that the latest extension allows the parties to work toward an expanded truce agreement, for which he is “intensifying” his efforts to support them in resolving outstanding issues.

“Given the complexity of the issues being addressed and the time constraints we face, I call on the parties to demonstrate flexibility and to respond positively if I ask them to convene to reach agreement,” concluded the Special Representative.Hans Grundberg (on screen), Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, briefs UN Security Council members on the situation in Yemen.

UN Photo/Mark Garten

Hans Grundberg (on screen), Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, briefs UN Security Council members on the situation in Yemen.

Important actions needed

Ghada Mudawi, a senior official in the UN humanitarian office OCHA, updated the Council on the actions needed to strengthen Yemen’s economy, support UNVIM and bolster funding.

On the economy, she highlighted that a worsening exchange rate is prohibiting people from affording food, nearly all of which must be imported.

Commercial imports are an essential lifeline,” she reminded while noting that they fell in July for “the fourth month in a row”.

Turning to UNVIM, she informed the ambassadors that while $3.5 million was needed for the UN team to support Yemen’s private sector importing until December, the mechanism would lapse if funding was not provided.

Presenting her final point, on humanitarians’ operational environment, she upheld that “aid work remains more difficult and dangerous than it should,” noting the equivalent of about six incidents each day, mostly due to movement.

She pointed to detained and missing UN staff members, stressing that all aid workers “should be released right now”.

Safer update

Meanwhile, the UN is also urgently working to raise money for the Safer tanker project.

The FSO Safer is a decaying oil tanker moored off the Red Sea coast of Yemen. It was constructed in 1976 as an oil tanker and converted to a floating storage and offloading (FSO) facility a decade later. Since the start of Yemen’s devastating civil war seven years ago, it has had virtually no maintenance.

“Several contributions, totalling $5.4 million, were announced in the last month, bringing total pledges to about $63 million,” Ms. Mudawi said, adding however, that the UN needs $144 million to implement the full operational plan for the tanker, including $80 million to start emergency work to transfer the oil off the tanker as soon as possible.

Yemen Gas company confirms stability of supply situation for domestic gas

SANA’A, Sep. 04 (Saba) – The Yemen Gas Company confirmed that the supply situation for domestic gas is stable in the capital and the provinces.

The company’s official spokesman, Ali Maasar, explained to the Yemeni News Agency (Saba) that the company continues to implement gas ration programs on a daily basis through Al-Aqal and agents, direct sales through mobile stations, the program of car stations, restaurants, and large consumers.

He pointed out that the available quantities of gas are sufficient to cover the needs of citizens and the rest of the sectors, in addition to the continuous entry of domestic gas trailers from Safer with its flow.

Maasar stressed the company’s keenness to stabilize the gas supply situation and to exert more efforts to serve the citizen in all provinces.

Yemen News

One day, Yemen will come out of the ashes and prosper again. While current news only a truce between Yemen’s fighting parties. The truce has achieved the following positive outcomes.

  1. Oil is available at the pump,
  2. Less news of tragedies,
  3. Few people get to fly from and to Sanaa airport.

On the other hand, we have been hearing rumours of the following:

  1. The truce would not be renewed as fighting parties have not achieved their full agendas.
  2. The fragile recognized government is still fighting within
  3. The defacto authorities are preparing their army for further escalation if their terms are not met.