News / National
Early marriages rampant
15 Aug 2014 at 08:37hrs | Views
A total of 39 000 girls are married off in a single day globally while the annual figure currently stands at 14 million girls a year, a child-marriage expert, Nyaradzo Gumbonzvanda, said on Thursday.
She was speaking at her first public meeting, organised by Plan International, since her appointment as African Union's (AU) Goodwill ambassador for Child-Marriage.
Gumbonzvanda said Africa had the highest number of countries with girls in early marriages, adding that 31% of girls in marriages in Zimbabwe were married off at a tender age.
Although Zimbabwe is not among the worst countries, she said there was need to guard against child marriages considering that the statistics were unacceptably high.
Gumbonzvanda, who is set to make a presentation at the on-going Sadc summit in Victoria Falls, said it would be a good opportunity for African countries to come up with an action plan that would help improve the situation.
"Our governments must show support through releasing funds for organisations that deal with children and improve policy implementation and harmonisation. We need to have actual and practical opportunities for our girls," she said.
Meanwhile, in an effort to end child-marriages, Plan International is leading a global campaign called, ‘Because I Am A Girl' which is supporting girls' rights and education around the world.
Under this campaign, four Sadc countries, including Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, would implement a joint programme to end child marriages with a comprehensive approach which is called ‘18+: Ending child marriage in Southern Africa'.
The 18+ programme is part of Plan International's global efforts to support four million girls get education, skills and support they need to move from poverty to opportunities.
She was speaking at her first public meeting, organised by Plan International, since her appointment as African Union's (AU) Goodwill ambassador for Child-Marriage.
Gumbonzvanda said Africa had the highest number of countries with girls in early marriages, adding that 31% of girls in marriages in Zimbabwe were married off at a tender age.
Although Zimbabwe is not among the worst countries, she said there was need to guard against child marriages considering that the statistics were unacceptably high.
Gumbonzvanda, who is set to make a presentation at the on-going Sadc summit in Victoria Falls, said it would be a good opportunity for African countries to come up with an action plan that would help improve the situation.
"Our governments must show support through releasing funds for organisations that deal with children and improve policy implementation and harmonisation. We need to have actual and practical opportunities for our girls," she said.
Meanwhile, in an effort to end child-marriages, Plan International is leading a global campaign called, ‘Because I Am A Girl' which is supporting girls' rights and education around the world.
Under this campaign, four Sadc countries, including Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, would implement a joint programme to end child marriages with a comprehensive approach which is called ‘18+: Ending child marriage in Southern Africa'.
The 18+ programme is part of Plan International's global efforts to support four million girls get education, skills and support they need to move from poverty to opportunities.
Source - Zim Mail
