Girls who end up as brides at a tender age are coerced into having children while they are children themselves. This is in part because child marriage remains highly prevalent despite efforts by. Democracy, human rights, and governance girls not brides. For instance, in the 1990s the national median age at first marriage for women aged 2549 was 15. Of the 41 countries worldwide with a child marriage prevalence rate of 30 percent or more, 30 are in african union countries. Questions and answers on international protecting girls through preventing child marriage act q. Only the child s parents, legal guardian, person acting in loco parentis or. Our portfolio in ethiopia is one of the largest and most complex in africa. Ethiopias approach to addressing child marriage is part of a broader initiative that aims to address harmful traditional practices affecting women including child marriage and female genital mutilationcutting fgmc. The countrys national strategy emerged in the context of ethiopias aim to reach middle income. Pdf child marriage in ethiopia a matter of concern i. World vision ethiopia goal contributing to the wellbeing.
The echild is one of the technical programs which particularly intended to contribute to the realization of child wellbeing outcomes of the organization. A profile of progress in ethiopia child marriage in the global development agenda achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls target 5. A major challenge minh cong nguyen and quentin wodon. Marriage before the age of 18 is a fundamental violation of human rights. Far less attention has been paid to child marriage in subsaharan africa, where prevalence rates remain high. Child marriage is defined as any legal or customary union involving a boy or girl younger than the age of 18. Most african countries with high rates of child marriage have civil laws that prohibit child marriage and set minimum marriage ages.
Case studies typical cases and outliers 24 question guide. Early marriage is a violation of childrens human rights. Child marriage in ethiopia and its associated human uw bothell policy journal, 2012 11 definition of child marriage what exactly is child marriage and why is this localized, traditional practice a global concern. Child marriage is widely acknowledged to be a harmful sociocultural practice that is both a cause and an outcome of human rights violations.
In simple terms, child marriage is the marriage of a person aged before majority. Child marriage is a human rights violation that prevents girls from obtaining an education, enjoying optimal health, bonding with others their own age, maturing, and ultimately choosing their own life partners. Child marriage, defined as marriage of a child under 18 years of age, is a silent and yet widespread practice. Ending child marriage in africa human rights watch. Govethiopia usaidethiopia country profile, july 2017 2 gender equality and womens empowerment we promote gender equality by promoting equal access to economic opportunities and education while supporting the health of women and their families, which allows for more equitable participation in society. Ending child marriage in africa i faced a lot of problems in marriage.
Democracy, human rights, and governance less likely to participate in civil society and the formal economy. Child marriage, defined as marriage below age 18, continues to be a. Improving the lives of married adolescent girls in amhara. Child marriage impedes girls education the education a girl receives is the strongest predictor of the age she will marry, according to icrw analysis in 18 of the 20 countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage. I was p reg n a t, hd olk f m yus b housework, deal with in laws, and work on. Globally, the proportion of young women who were married as children decreased by 15 per cent, from 1 in 4 to about 1 in 5. Yet investments to end the practice remain limited across the globe.
The first ever ethiopian girl summit took place in addis ababa in june 2015. Questions and answers on international protecting girls. Only the childs parents, legal guardian, person acting in loco parentis or. The causes, consequences and solutions to forced child marriage. Key informant interview for general exploration of issues related to child marriage and education 15 7. Improving the lives of married adolescent girls in amhara, ethiopia a summary of the evidence background today, there are nearly 70 million child brides worldwide, with an estimated 142 million more destined for early marriage over the next decade. The practice of child marriage in ethiopia has shown significant decline in recent years. It encourages marriage only at appropriate age, proper child upbringing and nurture, and promotion of love and care for children in families and communities. Child marriage violates girls basic human rights and brings their childhoods to a swift end. Many factors interact to place a child at risk of marriage, including poverty, the perception that marriage will provide protection, family honor, social norms, customary or religious laws that condone the practice, an inadequate legislative framework and the state of a countrys civil registration system. Harmful traditional practices and child protection ethiopia. Now i can propose ideas that can solve any problem the role of community awareness interventions in tacklingchild marriage in ethiopia nicola jones, bekele tefera, elizabeth preslermarshall,taveeshi gupta, guday emirie, bethelihem gebre and kiros berhanu community awareness interventions need to be tailored to match the local drivers.
Today, 51 million girls ages 17 or younger in developing countries are married. Despite being prohibited by international law, it continues to rob millions of girls under 18 around the world of their childhood. House of representatives human rights commissions human rights commission. The national alliance to end child marriage in ethiopia by 2025 was spearheaded by the ministry of children, women and youth affairs to identify the drivers of child marriage across ethiopia and to locate examples of best practice.
Surprising trends in child marriage in ethiopia 7 child marriage experiences vary widely driven by ethiopia s ethnic and religious diversity, child marriage assumes a wide variety of forms across the country. Report shaping policy for development now i can propose ideas that can solve any problem the role of community awareness interventions in tacklingchild marriage in ethiopia nicola jones, bekele tefera, elizabeth preslermarshall,taveeshi gupta. According to the most recent demographic and health survey data from 2011, the median age at which ethiopian women marry is 16. Evidence from ethiopia 2 young lives policy brief 21 july 2014 child marriage is still the norm in ethiopia where the most recent national figures suggest that more than half 58% of. How many young girls around the world are impacted by child marriage. Child marriage, also known as early marriage, is defined as any marriage carried out below the age of 18. In quarit, amhara, for example, it is still common for girls as young as five to be married. Evidence from ethiopia young lives policy brief 21 july 2014 revised december 2014 child marriage and female circumcision are linked practices that are prevalent in subsaharan africa and common. Girls most at risk each dot represents a country in every region, the poor are most at risk of child marriage percentage of women aged 20 to 49 years who were married or in union before age 18, by place of residence child marriage is most common in rural areas 100 80. This is in part because child marriage remains highly prevalent despite efforts by many developing country. Used interchangeably with dissolution, but historically. According to a study by the overseas development institute and unicef 2015, there are three types of child marriage in ethiopia.
A guide for global policy action makes a strong case for international action, and strengthens the advocacy efforts of development practitioners and womens and childrens rights activists to end child marriage. Therefore, on the aggregate, a high prevalence of child marriage negatively affects economic, health and development outcomes of a country and perpetuates a cycle of violence and injustice, which in turn decreases a. Usaids office of population and reproductive health. Child marriages in india the red elephant foundation december 20 e 4 introduction child marriage refers to the marriage of a child younger than 18 years old,1 in accordance to article 1 of the convention on the right of the child. Recent data indicate that 1 in 3 women currently aged 2024 in the developing world has married before the age of 18, and an estimated 15 million girls under 18 marry each year. Contested understandings and practices of female child marriage and circumcision in ethiopia 2 summary this paper explores local perspectives on female child marriage and circumcision in ethiopia. I was p reg n a t, hd olk f m yus b housework, deal with inlaws, and work on.
A program to delay child marriage in rural ethiopia. In the baseline survey, we will see that parents report an average age of rst marriage for girls of 14 years. Nkosazana dlaminizuma, chairperson, auc at the international conference on family planning, addis ababa, november 20 african union. Health consequences of child marriage in africa volume. More than 700 million women alive today were married before their 18th birthday.
Ending child marriage is now part of the sustainable development goals. New findings on child marriage in subsaharan africa. Exploratory research into the intersection of forced. In order to contextualise our findings on child marriage we begin with a brief overview of the progress that has been made to date and challenges still facing. The legal age of marriage is 18 for both males and females,16 but it is widely ignored. Early marriage denies girls their right to make vital decisions about their sexual health and wellbeing. Research priorities on ending child marriage and supporting. Are there certain parts of the world where this practice is common. In ethiopia the ages at first sexual intercourse and first marriage have been relatively low and closely concurrent. Both practices are widespread still, despite international and national efforts to eradicate. Early marriage denies girls their right to make vital. Ethiopia is the site of some of the most abusive marital practices, such as marriage by abduction and forced unions between cousins abusuma. Progress in reducing rates of child marriage is being made in a number of countries, particularly among younger adolescents. Prhs child marriage work is grounded in data collection and analysis, and evidencebased bestpractices that inform programs and policies to improve reproductive health outcomes for women and girls.
Prh implements a twopronged approach to child marriage. The causes, consequences and solutions to forced child. Ethiopia recently adopted a strategy to end child marriage, and some of the projects being implemented in the country should contribute to reduce the. Today, over 60 million marriages include girls under the age of 18 years. Call to action we must do away with child marriage. This work is a result of a series of technical consultations on child marriage. Minimum marriage age laws and the prevalence of child. The issue of child marriage is getting renewed attention among policy makers. Sep 03, 2015 research and evidence gaps on causes of child marriage. Unfpaunicef global programme to accelerate action to en chil marriage executive summary trends in child marriage over the past decade, child marriage has continued to decline. The importance of child protection 1 structure of the manual 2 how to use this manual 2 section 1. Therefore, on the aggregate, a high prevalence of child marriage negatively affects economic, health and development outcomes of a country and perpetuates a cycle. Rights of the child in ethiopia the world organisation against torture omct wishes to extend its gratitude for its support to the childrens programme to. The research has been done according to the methodology guidance on child notice 2015 which was developed in the framework of the.
Studies from africa and south asia point to the root causes and exacerbating factors that contribute to child marriage traditions and genderdiscriminatory norms rooted in patriarchal values and ideologies, the lack of educational and economic alternatives to child marriage, as well as exacerbating social factors such as poverty. Insights from comparative research this policy brief highlights findings from research on child marriage from young lives ethiopia, peru, vietnam and the indian states of andhra pradesh and telangana and child frontiers zambia. International and constitutional legal standards and jurisprudence for promoting accountability and change 5 the termination of a marriage through legal action, requiring a petition or complaint for divorce by one party. Child marriage is both a grave violation of human rights and a stumbling block to achieving development goals related to gender, health and education 27. A developmental challenge in africa by jeannette bayisenge assistant lecturer in department of social sciences national university of rwanda abstract this paper explores the issue of early marriage in africa. Ethiopia has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today. Child marriage briefing ethiopia population council. Box 21 8, rue du vieuxbillard ch 1211 geneva 8 tel.
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