The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 on 19 December 2011 to declare “Eleven October” as the International Day of the Girl Child. For the first time this year on 11 October 2012, the world will celebrate the International Day for the Girl Child in an effort to improve the childs well before. Observing a day devoted to the girl child will promote their rights, equal opportunities, access to basic social services, empowerment, social dignity and freedom from violence and abuse.
The theme for the girl childs day this year 2012 is “Ending Child Marriage”. Child marriage is a social immorality, violates the girl childs fundamental human rights, interrupts their education, puts their health at risk, limits their future opportunities for education and socio-economic development and mostly, it negatively impacts all aspects of their life.
According to a study (Bruce and Clark, 2004) an estimated 10 million girls aged under 18 years are married worldwide annually. One in seven girls are married before their 15th birthday in the developing world. Forty six percent of girls in South Asia, 38% in Sub-Saharan Africa and 29% in Latin America and the Caribbean are married before they reach 18 year of age (UNICEF 2011). These married girls are at greater risk of experiencing complications in pregnancy and during child birth, becoming infected with HIV/AIDS and suffering from domestic violence. At current trends, 100 million girls below 18 years of age will be married in the next decade, who are unlikely to continue their education or meet their full potential (The United Nations Interagency Task Force on Adolescent Girls, Fact Sheet 2009).
Observance of the International Day of the Girl Child each October 11, is a unique opportunity to raise public awareness of the different types of discrimination and abuse that many girls around the world suffer from. This year people around the world will organize different events and will talk to the public about the causes and consequences of the child marriage.
Considering the importance of the day and the magnitude if girls whose sexual reproductive health rights are violated, Partners in Population and Development (an inter-Governmental alliance of a group of 25 developing countries mandated to promote south-south cooperation in the area of RH population and development) urges community, faith based and cultural leaders, development practitioners, policy makers and right based groups to join hands and initiate efforts to stop child marriage, offer them opportunities through active support and engagement for their empowerment, improving their access to quality education and economic incentives and ensuring enabling laws and policies for the girl child.
Globally, the majority of the school going adolescent population is girl children. If the authorities of the schools worldwide could pay special attention to the observance of this day, it would have far reaching impact in raising the voices of the urgent need to address and to stop child marriage.
Your assistance to observe this important day will be much appreciated.
Joe Thomas, PhD
Executive Director, PPD