The «Child marriage» is a serious violation of human rights and we cannot allow it.
Statistics show that a girl under the age of 18 is married every three seconds – that is, 10 million underage girls are married each year – most often without her consent and most likely married to an older man.
Most recent research on child marriage in Africa shows that most national governments in the region are either not aware of the seriousness of the issue, and/or have not prioritized child marriage as a serious problem that has far reaching impacts on health, education and economic development indices.
There is therefore an urgent need for self-efficacy training programs to change mindsets fettered by entrenched poverty, cultural norms/ religious beliefs and deeply rooted in patriarchal tradition.
I think it is our duty to help the large amount of children in the world who are victims of violence and are forced into early marriage. Today the problem exists even in Europe, in fact we have many migrants from African countries and from countries in war and sadly this practice is implemented.
I think it is necessary to raise awareness among governments and at the same time to promote the education and the empowerment among young women.
I think is very important realize a cultural change through training, and I think it is the best strategy to fight the problem.
I conclude this brief report with one thought: to be members of the BPW International should lead us to work to build a stronger, more meaningful and more prosperous society. A society built on the commitment, innovation, promotion of the economy at the same time has to take care of the less fortunates, and promote equity with respect for diversity. We all strongly called to promote the empowerment of women to achieve equal opportunities in all spheres of society
