A child is no bride: Say no to child marriages

Some statistics are shocking, others unbelievable, and yet others seemingly from outer space.

The statistics released by the African Union on 16 June during the commemoration of the International Day of the African Child were simply shocking.

According to the figures, every year 15 million girls – many of them Africans – become brides before they are physically and emotionally mature to become wives or mothers.

They join the ranks of 750 million women alive today who became brides before attaining the age of 18.

It is even more alarming that projections on child marriages show that due to the rising population growth, the problem is likely to escalate to a point where, if unchecked, the numbers of African child brides will double by 2050.

At the regional level, it is crucial for EAC governments to develop strategies to end child marriages.

The concerned civil society organisations should also join in the fight and mobilise communities to end the vice.

Africa is home to 15 of the 20 notorious nations of the world with the highest rates of child marriages.

The most affected is Niger, with 76 per cent, followed by the Central African Republic with 68 per cent.

At the lower end of the scale is Algeria with 2 per cent. All African nations are affected, with none having completely eliminated child marriages.

It is impossible for Africa as a continent to achieve six of the crucial Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the prevailing circumstances of high rates of child marriages.

It is impossible for African countries to eliminate extreme poverty, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health or even combat HIV/AIDS if the countries do not first end child marriages.

It is unacceptable that in today’s world of rising modernisation and declining illiteracy levels, child marriage is still being practiced in some African nations, thus frustrating efforts to empower girls by robbing them of their right to education and a decent life.

Time and again, the plight of girls – especially in rural areas and slums – has been highlighted in different forums.

It is high time governments clamp down on perpetrators of the crime, now that the African Union and many governments are getting increasingly alarmed at the implications for health and development.

A lot of regional campaigns to end child marriages are now on-going, and more African leaders are committing themselves to end the practice.

It is now crucial for the leaders to walk the talk and translate their declarations into action.

African governments must develop comprehensive strategies and action plans, marshalling the requisite resources to ensure that the war against child marriages is won.

One critical question we should be asking ourselves is: Why is child marriage being practised despite the laws and declarations that have been put in place to end the vice?

Retrogressive cultural practices are the greatest undoing in the war against child marriages.

Female genital mutilation, one of the most prevalent cultural practices which supposedly initiates a girl into adulthood, is partly to blame also.

Efforts to end female genital mutilation have proved futile in many places due to illiteracy and uncooperative government officials at the grassroots.

Unending poverty has caused parents to marry off their young daughter to wealthy men, perpetuating the debilitating circle of poverty and robbing girls of their childhood, health and education.

And since the child bride is forced to carry a pregnancy before her body has physically matured, there is an increased risk of injury and death during childbirth.

It is not enough to just have laws in place, but it is crucial to change the laws and policies in the light of the evolving society and advocate for additional resources to fight the vice.

A concrete action plan to end child marriages in East Africa, and indeed in the whole continent, cannot be postponed. The time to end child marriages is now.

By Anne Kiruku  East African News Agency