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Backgrounder: International Day of the African Child

Xinhua, June 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

African countries on Tuesday marked the Day of the African Child to reflect on the plight of all African children.

The day is celebrated in honor of more than 100 schoolchildren who were murdered by the then apartheid South African regime in Soweto in June 1976.

On June 16, 1976, about 10,000 black school children marched in a column more than half a mile long, protesting the poor quality of their education and demanding their right to be taught in their own language.

Hundreds of young students were shot, the most famous of which being Hector Peterson. More than 100 people were killed and 1,000 others injured in the protests over the following two weeks.

The African Union (AU), then Organization of African Unity (OAU) , in 1990, therefore, chose the day for member-states to reflect on the plight of all African children and to improve their lives.

The day presents an opportunity for all stakeholders on children's rights, including government, non-governmental and international entities, to reflect on issues affecting children.

The theme for this year's Day of the African Child is "Ending Child Marriages."

The AU has come up with a campaign to end child marriages in Africa and is encouraging governments across the continent to set the minimum age of marriage at 18 years. The campaign also focuses on strengthening families and communities to protect their children, ensuring they have access to key information and services of quality.

AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in a statement emailed to Xinhua that countries in Africa should not downplay or neglect the harmful practice of child marriage, saying it has longterm and devastating effects on the girls.

Child marriages are being fueled by many social and economic factors in many African communities such as poverty, lack of education, gender stereotyping, discrimination and negative religious practices, resulting in millions of the girls being married off before their 18th birthday. Endi