Note to Correspondents

EXHIBIT ON CHILD MARRIAGE OPENS AT UNITED NATIONS 11 OCTOBER

A photo exhibition entitled “Too Young to Wed”, commemorating the first observance of the International Day of the Girl Child (11 October), opens in the Main Gallery of the Visitors Lobby on Thursday, 11 October, at 6 p.m.

The exhibit features photography and video by Stephanie Sinclair and Jessica Dimmock and portrays a harmful practice that devastates the lives of millions of girls who are married off each year.  By highlighting the personal narratives of girls from around the world, the show aims to renew global attention to this critical issue and promote accountability from decision makers worldwide.

Statements at the opening will be made by Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Founder of Girls Not Brides, Stephanie Sinclair, Jessica Dimmock, and Ghaicha Salamatou Agali, a young woman from Niger, who will share her personal story of avoiding child marriage.

Dr. Osotimehin, Archbishop Tutu and Ms. Agali will also hold a press conference at 11 a.m. in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium to present the UNFPA report “Marrying too Young:  End Child Marriage”.

This exhibit is hosted by UNFPA and VII Photo Agency.  UNFPA is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity.  UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.  VII Photo Agency, created in 2001 by seven of the world’s leading photojournalists, now represents 23 photojournalists whose careers span 35 years of world history.  For more information, visit www.viiphoto.com.

Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of more than 190 non-governmental organizations committed to ending child marriage.  Girls Not Brides members are based in 38 countries throughout Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America and range from grassroots groups working to end child marriage and support child brides in their communities, to international non-governmental organizations seeking to bring global attention to this neglected problem.

For more information, please contact:  at UNFPA, Christian Delsol at tel.: +1 212 297 5032, e-mail:  delsol@unfpa.org; at VII Photo Agency, Alina Grosman, +1 718 858 3130, e-mail:  alina@viiphoto.com.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, please contact Renata Morteo at tel.:  +1 212 963 5455, e-mail:  morteo@un.org; or Liza Wichmann at tel.:  +1 212 963 0089, e-mail: wichmann@un.org; or visit http://visit.un.org.

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For information media • not an official record