UNICEF warns of millions more child brides in Africa – but the Church could help change that
from Christian Today:
UNICEF has just launched a report revealing that an additional 45 million girls in sub-Saharan Africa will become child brides in the next decade if progress to stop the practice is not accelerated.
Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa highlights that in poorer rural areas that have a higher prevalence of child marriage, there is a need for ‘multisectoral and contextualised interventions’. Local churches are ideally placed to provide this. They don’t just know the communities they are supporting; they are part of them. That’s why international child development charity Compassion works through local church partners.
Efforts are being made by the church partners to combat child marriage by educating caregivers, religious leaders, local authorities and parents to raise awareness of the rights of girls, the importance of their education and the dangers associated with child marriage. However, girls like Djamila* are still at risk.
Djamila and her parents live in a remote village in eastern Burkina Faso, where the rate of child marriage is among the highest. This is her story.
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