PRESS CONFERENCE BY UN CHILDREN’S FUND

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UN CHILDREN’S FUND

Addressing child marriage as a violation of a child's basic rights, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) released a new report today entitled "Early Marriage: Child Spouses".  The report looks at the many implications of child marriages and analyses their root causes, seeking to begin a global campaign to end that widespread practice.

Introducing the report to correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, the Chief of UNICEF’s Gender, Partnership and Participation Section, Joan French, said that struggle towards gender equality should start with children.  By releasing the report on the eve of International Women's Day, UNICEF wanted to make a point that action was needed to promote children's equality and freedom, so that today's girls could become women with rights in the future. 

"I want each of you to image a child you know, who is aged seven, eight, ten or eleven", she said.  "It could be your daughter, niece, or a daughter of a friend or colleague.  I also want you to imagine that at her tender age, this child is sent away to join a family she does not know, given to a man much older than she is, told that he is going to be her spouse."  Not having been introduced to the implications of sexual relations and marital commitment, that child would be sexually violated and become a servant in her husband's household, she said.  The statistics showed that half of all girls in some countries were married by the time they reached the age of eighteen.  Early marriage had profound physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional consequences for girls.  It also meant premature pregnancy and was likely to lead to a lifetime of domestic and sexual subservience.  

In the wider context, she continued, child marriage violated a number of important international instruments, including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Age of Marriage.  Those conventions explicitly stated that women should enter into marriage consciously, having a right of choice and at an adult age.  Last year, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child had entered into force, which provided that child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys "shall be prohibited, and effective action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years".

Also violated was a fundamental right to education, which was of paramount importance to UNICEF, she continued.  In some societies, even the children's right to life was in jeopardy, for when girls tried to escape marriages, they were condemned and sometimes killed by their family members for dishonouring the family name and bringing shame upon the household.  Many parents were also concerned about early sexual relations for their children, feeling that giving the child away in marriage would control undesired sexual activity.  However, such practices abrogated the child's right to consent, freedom and choice.

She went on to say that, if a man of forty-five, fifty or sixty years of age was to enter into sexual relations with a child of eleven, in most societies today he would be considered a criminal and a perpetrator of sexual violence or abuse.  However, in societies where early marriage was accepted, such behaviour was treated as perfectly normal.  There was also a contributing factor of poverty,

which persuaded parents to part with their daughters through promises of marriage.  They wanted somebody else to feed and clothe the child, and that was extremely unfortunate.  Thus, to confront the problem of early marriage, it was necessary to confront poverty, in particular the poverty of women.

Providing basic education and educating children about reproductive rights and sexuality would guarantee responsible behaviour and allow children to make decisions about their lives, she said.  The publication released today was stressing children's rights to education, development and choice.  Along with other gender issues and other forms of discrimination, the problem of early marriage needed to be addressed from that point of view. 

Turning to the actions taken by UNICEF to address the issue of early marriages, she said that one of the reasons for preparing the report was the need to compile all the existing relevant data that could be used for a global campaign to end that practice.  Although statistical global information was not readily available and data on the phenomenon was very scarce, sufficient evidence existed that showed the dimensions of the problem.  For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, over 70 per cent of girls aged fifteen to nineteen were already married.  In Afghanistan and Bangladesh that figure amounted to over 50 per cent.  Within certain countries, even though national figures testified to an advanced general age of marriage, there were disparities between the national average and community realities.  That was the case in Ethiopia, for example, where in some communities, there was significant incidence of marriages between the ages of seven to eleven years.  UNICEF was promoting studies on the issue in six West African countries, where recommendations had been made to improve the status of women, improve girls' education and confront the issue of poverty from the gender point of view. 

In conclusion, she expressed appreciation for the contribution of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to the preparation of the report, saying that the Fund's former Executive Director, Dr. Nafis Sadik, had written one of the articles contained in the publication. 

Responding to a question regarding the proposed means of educating the population about the implications of early marriages, Ms. French said that it was important to recognize education as a process.  While necessary, legislation should not be the only approach.  It was important to mobilize communities, develop new school programmes, raise awareness and get the people together to analyse the situation and research alternatives to early marriages.  When confronted, sometimes the very women who gave their daughters away would say that they wished they had been given such alternatives.  Without understanding the traditions and beliefs, however, it was impossible to convince the population.  "And we would rather persuade and convince, than coerce", she said, adding that it was also important to collaborate with civil society and non-governmental organizations. 

A correspondent asked about early marriage and engagement as an alternative to sexual activity, saying that in many developed countries there was a high incidence of teen-age pregnancy and sex.  Ms. French replied that statistics showed that when girls were educated, they delayed both marriage and sexual activities, for they had alternatives to early marriage.

Asked if the early marriage phenomenon persisted as countries modernized, she said that it did, because of the disparities of development.  There were sections of society that, for various reasons, did not have access to education and services.  In fact, while the age of marriage was rising on the global scale,

it was not doing that within certain communities, which were excluded from the process of globalization.

Would it make more sense to attack the problem of poverty without singling out the issue of early marriages? a correspondent asked.  Ms. French replied that poverty could not be eradicated without addressing the gender issues.  Poverty of women further promoted poverty, perpetuating the problem. 

Responding to a question regarding the role of religion in changing the traditional attitudes, she said that in fact, UNICEF was collaborating with religious leaders in many parts of the world to confront violations of human rights.  Because of their influence, religious leaders had a very important role to play in changing harmful attitudes.  Prior to the Millennium Summit, a large meeting of religious leaders took place, where they discussed how they could contribute to forwarding the issues of development in the context of the United Nations goals.  UNICEF was planning two meetings with religious leaders later this year, seeking their help in confronting violations of children's rights. 

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