Salient health, human rights issue
… On Int’l Day of the Girl-Child
Marriage of girls less than 18 years is common worldwide and affects
millions of them despite international agreements and national laws.
Experts classify child marriage as a health and human rights issue.
According to child advocates, it is a human rights violation that
prevents girls from obtaining education, enjoy optimal health, bond with
others of their age, mature and ultimately choose their own life
partners.
Children activists believe that the practice is driven by poverty and
has several effects on girls’ health such as increased risk for
sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer, malaria, death during
childbirth and obstetric fistulas. Girls’ offspring are at increased
risk for premature birth and death as neonates, infants or children.
Child marriage as a tradition driven by poverty is perpetuated to
ensure girls’ financial future and to reinforce social ties. This belief
may not be unconnected with the reason for the choice of this year’s
event. Studies have also confirmed that one of the most effective
methods of reducing child marriage and its health consequences is to
mandate that girls stay in school.
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Female students at an event
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To stop child marriage, policies and programmes must educate
communities, raise awareness, engage local and religious leaders,
involve parents and empower girls through education and employment.
Activities commemorating this year’s International Day of the Girl
Child ended Tuesday with the investiture of Mrs. Aisha Buhari, wife of
the Nigerian President as the Grand Patron, High Level Women Advocates
for Girls Education in Nigeria, during an advocacy visit of 50
adolescent girls to her.
The wife of the President at the interactive session with the girls
promised to advocate publicly for legislation against child marriage.
She encouraged parents to keep their daughters in school for at least 12
years. “No single girl will be left behind in my movement to get every
girl into school,’ promised.
Based on the theme: “The Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for
2030,” UNICEF and other partners including the Federal Ministry of
Education focused their activities on the transforming power of
education to empower adolescent girls to overcome all challenges that
affect their lives and inhibit their prospects of advancement.
The 2013 National Demographic Health Survey indicate that there are
about 20 million adolescent girls in Nigeria and there is very low
education rates among them especially those in the lowest wealth
quintiles in the society. In Nigeria, 60 per cent of the 10.5 million
children out of school are girls. Data indicate that among other
factors, one reason for low enrolment and retention of girls in schools
especially in the north is the lack of female teachers in the rural
areas.
In response to this, UNICEF, with funding from the United Kingdom
Department for International Development (DFID) and counterpart funding
from five participating states started the Girls’ Education Project. The
Girls’ Education Project Phase 3(GEP3) aims to achieve one million
enrolments of girls into school by the end of year 2020.
The project is currently running in five northern states of Nigeria:
that includes Bauchi, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto and Zamfara. Since
implementation commenced in 2012, the project has contributed to the
enrolment of additional 360,000 girls in primary schools in the five
states.
“Adolescent girls should be empowered through deliberate policies to
transform their lives and those around them. Young girls who are
educated are better placed to improve their own and their children’s
health and chances of survival and boost their work prospects”, said
Jean Gough UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.
Investing in high quality girls’ education prepares girls for life,
jobs and leadership. It directly translates into the girls being
powerful and positive change agents of development.
This story was published in Newswatch Times on October 24, 2015.
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