Nairobi, Kenya
Church leaders in South Sudan have started a campaign against childhood marriages and violence, and now rampant among teenagers in the East African country.
The country of more than 10.75 million people has the world’s fifth-highest prevalence of child marriage, according to the report by the UN. The report shows that 52 per cent of all girls are married before 18 years of age, a violation of human rights that deprives them of education and is the root cause of poverty in the country.
Catholic Bishop Emmanuel Bernardino Lowi Napeta of South Sudan’s Torit Diocese. Credit: CRN
The church leaders noted that the country’s high poverty rate is leading many families to force their girls to marry as early as possible, often after first menstruation, so that they can get dowry. According to the World Bank’s report, about 82 per cent of South Sudanese people endure poverty, surviving on less than $US1.90 daily.
In the world’s newest nation embroiled in a bloody civil war for the last decade, dowry is paid for by the groom and his family and can include cattle, money and other gifts.
Pastor Kuol Garang, of the Christ Pentecostal Church in Juba, the country’s capital, said early dating and childhood marriages were on the rise and highly contribute to the maternal mortality rate in the country, which is currently at 2,054 deaths for every 100,000 births.
“The rise of childhood pregnancies and marriages is really disturbing everyone, especially the church in the country,” he said, noting that the practice had increased during the civil war. “The menace has led to the dropout of female children out of school while their male counterparts continue to pursue education. This is a total violation of girls’ right to access education. Parents should not be allowed to make wrong decisions for their children because they want to get a dowry.”
Pastor Garang said his church had started campaigning against the menace, saying it was doing more harm than good to the girls. He uses sermons during church service, prayer sessions, and other gatherings to discourage the practice and advice parents and guardians to allow girls to complete their education.
“As the church, we have decided to take advantage of every gathering to educate the girls and their parents to understand the risks associated with the practice,” he said. “We are advising the girls to pursue their education and achieve their dreams. We are also talking to their parents to understand that education is very important to a girl child and they should give them a chance to complete their education.”
Bishop Emmanuel Bernardino Lowi, of the Catholic Diocese of Torit in the south-eastern part of South Sudan, vowed to ensure there were no more forced marriages because of cows and other gifts, terming the practice as an “old mentality” that needs to be stopped to allow young girls to access education like their male counterparts.
He said the church leaders had started to visit parents and elders in villages promoting the practice to talk to them to prioritise education over their selfish interests. The leaders are also discouraging parents from forcing their kids into marriage. The church leaders have also liaised with traditional tribal leaders, NGOs and the relevant government departments to end the practice.
“I am encouraging elders responsible for this practice to join us and fight early and forced marriages, denying our girls a chance to access quality education,” said Bishop Lowi. “I want to urge every parent to take care of young girls until they mature so that they can make their own decisions. Forcing young girls into marriage is inhuman and barbaric and cannot be accepted anywhere today.”
The bishop added: “Let’s protect our girls and give them quality education because they are the women of tomorrow and the future of the world.”
