Disasters to blame for spike in child marriages, say campaigners

Natural and human induced disasters including droughts, floods, epidemics and wars have fuelled a spike in child marriages despite adoption of binding legal instruments to curb the practice, campaigners said on Thursday.

As the global campaign to end child marriages intensify, campaigners warned that disasters engulfing many developing countries will undermine this effort.

"Mounting evidence reveals that in times of crises, whether triggered by refugee emergencies, floods, earthquake or war, the number of young girls being married off rises as families struggle to cope," said the campaigners, Girls not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, in a statement received in Nairobi.

The nonprofit group raised the alarm on the spike in child marriages due to humanitarian disasters.

It cited authoritative studies that indicate underage marriages are on the rise in trouble spots across the Middle East and Africa as well as South East Asian nations grappling with natural calamities.

"Studies show that child marriages have increased by as much as 20 percent in Syria refugee camps in Jordan. In Bangladesh, a country prone to floods, many families see child marriage as the best option to protect children they cannot feed or educate," said the statement.

Globally, 15 million girls are married off every year hence denied their basic rights and privileges including education, health and emotional well-being.

The first global target to end child marriage was adopted by the UN General Assembly last week as part of Sustainable Development Goals.

Campaigners have recently intensified pressure on the international community, national governments and communities to end this practice by 2030.

South African anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu urged governments to enforce legislation banning underage marriages while sensitizing local communities on the need to abandon this harmful cultural practice.

"It is our responsibility to stop marriage of underage girls in order to ensure they complete education and secure well paying careers," Tutu said. Endit