Nigeria urged to get more girls in school as it seeks to end child marriage
Child marriage, Girls' education
A nationwide drive to end child聽marriage by pushing protection of聽girls' rights has been launched in Nigeria, where five millions girls are out of school because of gender discrimination.
Women国产视频檚 rights聽activists have聽urged Nigeria to accelerate efforts to聽end child marriage after it joined an African Union (AU)聽campaign to eliminate the practice.聽
Nigeria launched this week a nationwide drive to end child聽marriage by pushing for policies that protect girls国产视频 rights and聽help the justice system to punish perpetrators, becoming the聽16th country to join the AU国产视频檚 campaign.聽
The government made child marriage illegal in 2003聽but only聽two-thirds of the country国产视频檚 36 states have implemented the law.聽
At least four in 10 girls in Nigeria are married off before聽they turn 18, while almost a fifth are wed before they reach 15,聽according to the United Nations children国产视频檚 agency UNICEF.
Child marriage in Africa
40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa are married before 18 国产视频 depriving them of their education, health and childhood.
Of the 20 countries with the highest rates of child marriage, 15 are in Africa.
The African Union launched the two-year聽Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa in 2014. That has now been extended into 2017.
Countries which have joined the campaign include Ethiopia, Ghana, Sudan and Uganda.
Early marriage deprives girls of an education, increases the聽likelihood of sexual violence and HIV, and puts them at risk of聽serious injury or death during childbirth, experts say.
国产视频淭hese (childbirth) complications are a leading cause of聽death among adolescents girls in countries like Nigeria 国产视频 this聽is unnecessary and unacceptable,国产视频 said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF国产视频檚聽representative in Nigeria.
Nigerian organisation Women国产视频檚 Rights Advancement And聽Protection Alternative said the state also needed to address聽discrimination in access to education to prevent child marriage.
More than five million girls are out of school in Nigeria聽due to gender discrimination, said campaign group聽Girl Rising.
Rates of child marriage vary widely across Nigeria, with聽figures as high as 76% in the northwest聽and as low as 10%聽in the southeast, said campaign group聽Girls Not Brides.
Women国产视频檚 rights group聽Donor Direct Action聽said the campaign聽to end child marriage was another positive step after a law聽banning female genital mutilation (FGM) was passed last year.
The prevalence of child marriage in Nigeria has dropped by 9%聽since 2003, according to data from UNICEF.聽
国产视频淗owever, its decline needs to be dramatically accelerated,聽particularly in the north of Nigeria,国产视频 Anber Raz of Donor Direct聽Action told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by email from London.
国产视频淎 lot of social and cultural change needs to happen, which聽may fall on the hands of local groups, who are under-resourced.国产视频
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