UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, in his message on the International Day of the Girl Child said:
“Girls face discrimination, violence and abuse every day across the world. This alarming reality underpins the International Day of the Girl Child, a new global observance to highlight the importance of empowering girls and ensuring their human rights”.
According to the massage it is an obligation under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It is also critical for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, advancing economic growth and building peaceful, cohesive societies. For this inaugural day, the United Nations is focusing on the issue of child marriage,” said the message adding “Globally, around 1 in 3 young women aged 20 to 24 — approximately 70 million — were married before the age of 18. Despite a decline in the overall proportion of child brides in the last 30 years, the challenge persists, particularly in rural areas and among the poorest. If present trends continue, the number of girls who will marry by their 18th birthday will climb towards 150 million in the next decade.
Child marriage divorces girls from opportunity. It jeopardizes health, increases exposure to violence and abuse, and results in early and unwanted pregnancies – an often life-threatening risk. If a mother is under the age of 18, her infant’s risk of dying in its first year of life is 60 per cent greater than that of an infant born to a mother older than 19. Education for girls is one of the best strategies for protecting girls against child marriage. I urge Governments, community and religious leaders, civil society, the private sector, and families – especially men and boys, to promote the rights of girls, including through the relevant Conventions, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development “.
