In Jordan camp, Syrian refugees choose school over child marriage
Mafraq, Jordan Thomson Reuters Foundation Chatting enthusiastically in a classroom at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, a group of Syrian teenage girls share stories about married friends – some with babies already, and of their own lucky escapes. Fatima was 14 when she got engaged, but had second thoughts and broke it off. Sixteen-year-old […]
Coronavirus puts four million girls at risk of child marriage
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Four million girls are at risk of child marriage in the next two years because of the new coronavirus pandemic, a global charity said on Friday, as campaigners warned that the crisis could undo decades of work to end the practice. Deepening poverty caused by the loss of livelihoods is likely […]
Hundreds of child weddings thwarted in Ethiopia as coronavirus locks girls out of school
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaThomson Reuters Foundation More than 500 girls have been rescued from child marriage in northern Ethiopia since schools were shut due to the new coronavirus, a regional official said, as fears mount that the pandemic is reversing years of work to stop underage unions. Ethiopia closed its schools in mid-March, sending 26 million […]
Is Saudi Arabia on the road to ending child marriage?
Thomson Reuters Foundation Saudi Arabia is trying to ban child marriage through new regulations, but loopholes are leaving young girls in the deeply conservative kingdom unprotected, campaigners said on Thursday. The Shura Council, a top advisory body to the government, approved regulations on Wednesday to prohibit marriage for girls and boys under 15, and those […]
Lost lives, lost billions: the cost of child marriage in Africa
Thomson Reuters Foundation Child marriage is costing African countries at least $US60 billion in lost lifetime earnings, more than what the world gives the continent in aid each year, the World Bank said on Wednesday. Be it high school dropout rates, teen pregnancy or poor health outcomes, the cost of child marriage is far from just monetary, […]
US wedding industry profits tapped to fight child marriage globally
Thomson Reuters Foundation Some profits from the multi-billion-dollar US wedding industry will be funneled into the global fight against child marriage, said organisers of a campaign that kicked off on Monday. The campaign, called VOW, will raise funds in the United States to be distributed to community-based efforts around the world, said Princess Mabel van […]
More parents trade girls for cows as war and climate change hit east Africa
Thomson Reuters Foundation Child marriage is increasing in parts of war-torn South Sudan and drought-hit Kenya as parents swap their daughters for cows and goats to survive, campaigners said on Wednesday. Africa accounts for nine out of the 10 countries with the highest rates of underage unions globally, advocacy group Girls Not Brides said, with […]
“Sea change” needed to achieve goal of ending child marriage by 2030
Thomson Reuters Foundation A “sea change” is needed to achieve a global goal of ending child marriage by 2030, campaigners said ahead of a major meeting on Monday aimed at stopping the practice. Some 12 million girls a year are married before the age of 18 with often devastating consequences for their health and education, […]
African leaders join forces in pledge to stamp out child marriage
Thomson Reuters Foundation African political leaders, activists, and local chiefs joined forces on Monday to commit to ending child marriage in West and Central Africa, the region with the highest child marriage rate in the world. More than a third of girls in the region are married under the age of 18, with the rate […]