UNGA holds first-ever child marriage panel
Recently in New-York the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) held its first-ever panel discussion on child marriage. The panel, requested by last year’s first General Assembly resolution on child marriage, focused on the post-2015 development agenda and the development costs of child marriage.
Child marriage is a global problem, but it is particularly widespread in African and Indo-Pacific countries. In Bangladesh, the percentage of women married before they turn 18 is 65%, followed by 47% in India and 40% in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Worldwide, girls who live in rural areas are twice as likely to be married by 18 as those living in urban areas.
The UNGA panel aimed to address these issues, by highlighting the human rights and development impacts of child, early and forced marriages, with particular emphasis on the post-2015 agenda. Furthermore, the panel address the initiatives for ending child marriage, and the challenges to be overcome collectively to ensure positive lastly impact.
For thousands of girls, child marriage is a significant barrier to education for many of the 75 million girls worldwide who do not go to school. Child marriage also increases the likelihood of physical and mental abuse by family members, as well as coercion into sexual relationships where early pregnancy puts their health at risk.
Child marriage is not included in the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that expire in 2015, and organisations like World YWCA, Girls Not Brides, Plan International and activists around the world are lobbying and advocating for child marriage to be included in the Sustainable Development Goals -post 2015 agenda. Engaging in such UN panel discussions raises the issue on to the global platform and encourages UN member states to join the cause.
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