Source: unmalawi.org
In 2011 the United Nations General Assembly established October 11 as the official International Day of the Girl Child as a means of recognising the rights of young girls across the world and the challenges which they face.
This year is the first year this day is being celebrated and the theme is “Ending Child Marriage”, which has been identified as a human rights violation. Child marriage has many negative consequences  for young girls including:
- denying them their childhood
- disrupting their education and academic development
- limiting their future opportunities
- increasing their risk of being the victims of domestic violence
- and putting their health at risk
Did you know…1 out of every 3 women are married before they turn 18 and among these women 1/3 of them were younger than 15 when they got married?
Child marriages are also usually accompanied by adolescent pregnancies which put the lives of many young girls at great risk. In the developing world, adolescent pregnancy and its accompanying complications are the leading cause of death in young girls between the ages of 15 and 19, 90% of whom are already married.
If we end child marriage there will be numerous benefits including:
- the protection of the rights of young girls
- a reduced risk of domestic violence
- less potentially dangerous adolescent pregnancies
- lower HIV infection rates
- and a significant declines in the rate of maternal death and disability
Today the UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women are carrying out an array of awareness activities, so if you want to get involved in some of the year round programmes, we recommend visiting their websites for more information.
Don’t forget to check out this UNICEF TV programme with Shakira talking about child rights for girls: