WUNRN
UN News Centre
29
May 2014 – Two United Nations agencies today welcomed the first campaign by the
African Union to end child marriage, a practice that robs over 17 million girls
– 1 in 3 – across the continent of their youth.
“What we are seeing today is an
Africa-wide movement of leaders and organizations collectively saying ‘No to
Child Marriage’,” said Martin Mogwanja, Deputy Executive Director of the UN
Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
“This push led by Africans for
Africans must not stop until every girl in every family and every community has
the right to reach her 18th birthday before getting married,” he added in a news
release.
The campaign, launched today in
the Ethiopian capital,
Although civil society actors
have been pressing hard on the issue of child marriage for several years, this
is the first time that such a large range of government officials,
organizations, UN agencies and individuals, including youth and children, are
vowing to collectively end child marriage.
“Data makes it clear that child
marriage is first and foremost a grave threat to young girls’ lives, health and
future prospects and a breach of girls’ fundamental human rights,” said Julitta
Onabanjo, Regional Director for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
“The costs of inaction, in terms
of rights unrealized, foreshortened personal potential and lost development
opportunities, far outweigh the costs of interventions,” added Dr. Onabanjo.
The UN agencies noted that since
girl brides often come from the most marginalized families in African
societies, strong and sustained political commitment to adopt appropriate
legal, institutional, social and economic measures to keep them away from child
marriage will be required.
Globally, 9 out of the 10
countries with the highest rates of child marriage are found in Africa –namely
According to the UN, more than
140 million girls worldwide will become child brides between 2011 and 2020 if
current rates continue. Of these, 50 million girls will be under the age of 15.
Aside from UNFPA and UNICEF, the
campaign brings together a large range of partners, including the Ford
Foundation, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Save the Children,
Plan international, Africa Child Policy Forum and the United Kingdom Department
for International Development.