LOS MARGINADOS: NO TIME FOR CHILDREN ▼ LOST GAMES ▼ Growing number of child brides in Africa

miércoles, 2 de diciembre de 2015

NO TIME FOR CHILDREN ▼ LOST GAMES ▼ Growing number of child brides in Africa

Growing number of child brides in Africa

Welcome to Demography Is Destiny. We launched this to counter two media memes: that humans are a cancer which is destroying our planet and that world population is spiralling to unsustainable levels. The real story is that intelligent and inventive human will rise to the challenge of climate change and that our real problem is the coming demographic winter. The editors of Demography is Destiny are Marcus and Shannon Roberts, who live in Auckland, New Zealand. Send them your comments and suggestions. - See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/growing-number-of-child-brides-in-africa/17268#sthash.9yk8PVsn.dpuf

WEDNESDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2015

Growing number of child brides in Africa

BY MARCUS ROBERTS

As the population of Africa grows in the next few years, one of the issues that the UN, the African Union and other NGOs are worried about is the rise in the number of child brides (girls married before the age of 18). At the moment there are an estimated 125 million women who were married before the age of 18. By 2050, the UN's agency for children, UNICEF, is concerned that this could rise to 310 million, mainly as a result of Africa's increasing population. If this is correct, then Africa will take over from South Asia as the area of the world where child brides are most common.

These figures have come out on the eve of the African Union Girls' Summit in Lusaka, Zambia and after a period of action by the African Union trying to end the practice.

“With a female chairman, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, taking the helm of the African Union, there has been some recent progress. The summit follows a campaign the body launched last year against the practice, prompting countries including Mozambique, Uganda and Egypt to put in place national strategies to clamp down on it.

Lakshmi Sundaram, the executive director of charity Girls Not Brides, said the taboo around discussing the issue was gradually lifting.

'Talking about child marriage is no longer taboo, and there is much greater recognition of the damage it has wreaked on generations of girls, their families and communities,' she said.”

The damage cited includes the fact that the pregnancy and childbirth are the second most common cause of death for girls under the age of 18 and that the children of child brides are “much less likely to reach their first birthday than those born to women in their 20s”. Campaigners hope to pressure countries to ban the practice throughout the continent, increasing girls' access to education and ensuring that female babies have accurate birth certificates.

Currently the largest amount of child brides in Africa are in Nigeria, with 23 million girls and women who were married in childhood. Chad and Central African Republic have the highest rates of child marriage today but apparently this is generally not for cultural reasons but because families marry their children off due to financial pressure. Thus it seems as if increasing the continent's financial strength and ending things that get in the way of economic growth (in particular war) in Africa would be the best way to combat growing numbers of child brides.

- See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/growing-number-of-child-brides-in-africa/17268#sthash.9yk8PVsn.dpuf

While our lead story today will be of greatest interest to Australian readers, there is a lesson in it for every country where same-sex marriage is or will be legal.

The people most at risk under this regime are not adults, who are unlikely to be affected by the change in the law. It is school children, who will henceforth be educated to believe that sex is basically a recreational activity. At least that is the theme of an anti-bullying campaign being rolled out in many Australian schools with generous Federal Government funding.

No doubt similar programs are being implemented in other countries. We'd love to hear from readers about their experiences.