We all want to live in a safer, healthier
more prosperous world, right? To see real change,
with equality and opportunity for all. We've made progress,
but change isn't happening fast enough. We're leaving behind too many girls.
We're leaving behind child brides. Child marriage
isn't just a problem for girls; it's a problem for everyone.
It undermines our efforts to tackle issues like poverty
education and health. Here's how...
Child brides, sometimes as young as 8 or 9, have no say in when or whom they marry.
They usually drop out of school and miss out on the opportunities they need to thrive
trapping them
their families and communities in a cycle of poverty.
Child brides aren't ready to become wives and mothers.
They are still growing, so they face dangerous complications
even death, in pregnancy and childbirth. And their children
are less likely to live beyond their first birthday. They are thrown into relationships
where they have no control,
putting them at greater risk of domestic violence and sexually transmitted diseases.
Every year fourteen million girls become child brides
across countries, cultures and religions.
The stakes are too high for us to ignore this problem.
We can end child marriage. But we have to work together.
We need all those who play a role in girls' lives
-- parents, teachers, health workers, community and religious leaders --
to understand the benefits of ending child marriage,
that it's not just positive for girls, but their families
and communities too.
Change will happen village by village,
town by town, but we also need national and international action.
Laws that set a minimum age for marriage; programmes that invest in girls, enabling them
to make choices,
to go to safe, accessible schools,
and earn an income.
We must register girls at birth; raise awareness; and support young people
to become activists for change.
We all have a part to play in building a safer, healthier
and more prosperous world. But to get there,
we can't leave anyone behind.
Join the movement to end child marriage.