I’m on the ground in Addis, Ethiopia, for a meeting with The Elders, a group of global leaders who meet to discuss solutions to the most pressing problems facing the world. This week, we’ve been talking about creating a Global Alliance to End Child Marriage – more to come on that later. First, I wanted to share an important story that I heard that really explains what Girl Up and its partners are working towards in the fight to stop child marriage.
In the refugee camps in Jijiga this month, a 12-year-old girl was forced by her father to marry -- he sold his daughter to a friend in the refugee camp. The girl’s husband is 72 years old. She stayed with him a week, and was forced to be his wife in every way. After one week, she escaped and fled to the UN Refugee (UNHCR) office. The team there is protecting her, along with her mother, and will not let her go back to her husband or her father. The father and husband are being prosecuted, but it’s unclear right now what the outcome will be. Our partners at UNHCR are working hard for this girl to keep her safe. Girl Up supports UNHCR in Jijiga and their efforts to prevent child marriage by emphasizing education for girls. As we know, girls who stay in school, marry later, have children later, and are able to get jobs so they can provide income for their families.
You can lend your voice to the fight against child marriage by signing our petition today.
Comments
Submitted by sophie on October 6, 2011
i think child marriage was the worst thing ever invented