Posted on Monday, May 20th, 2013 by Etye Sarner
Join the fight against young girl marriage by raising awareness about this pressing issue, advocating for these girls and urging policymakers to enact and enforce laws. Share the message with your family and friends and follow the blog to stay abreast of child marriage initiatives around the world.
Child marriage affects one in three girls in the developing world (excluding China) and predominately impacts the poorest, least educated girls, the majority of whom live in rural areas. Girls who get married early get pregnant early, putting their lives and the live of their children at great risk. To deal specifically with this issue, the United Nations Population Fund helps girls delay marriage by supporting efforts to keep them in school, assits married girls with education, life skills and information about reproductive health, and works with communities to foster policies that support the dignity of adolescent girls and end the practice of child marriage all together.
One Organization, Many GoalsAlongside ending child marriage, UNFPA has committed to making the world a better place for everyone. The agency champions the fundamental human rights of men, women and children all over the world. They agency’s mission supports the Millennium Development Goals agreed to by 189 world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, including ending hunger and poverty; providing universal access to education and reproductive healthcare; promoting gender equity; reducing the child mortality rate; stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and providing medical care to those who need it . Leaders hope to achieve measurable progress toward these goals by 2015.
If we do nothing, 142 million girls will become child brides over the next 10 years. That’s nearly four times the number of girls who attend school every day in North America and Western Europe combined. The website raises awareness for this crucial issue using eye-grabbing photos and incredible videos. When I scrolled through the beautifully designed site, I was shocked at the atrocity these young girls have to go through. The website definitely grabbed my attention and provoked me to do something about these terrible violations of basic human rights. It will definitely do the same to you, at the very least provoke your right and wrong judgment. Just try to imagine getting married at your early teens and even at an earlier age and then think whether you would want someone to do something about it. There are many things you can do to fix this problem, at the very least raise awareness. Check out the site today, learn a little bit, and share with as many people as possible!
