Monday, May 6, 2013

Child marriage and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)


Child marriage directly hinders the achievement of 6 of the 8 Millennium Development Goals. Simply put, the international community will not fulfil its commitments to reduce global poverty unless it tackles child marriage.
MDG 1: End poverty and hunger:
Girls who marry young do not receive the educational and economic opportunities that help lift them and their families out of poverty. 
MDG 2: Universal education:
Child brides are usually forced to drop out of school. The education gap between girls and boys in the developing world is often greater where child marriage is common. 
MDG 3: Gender equality:
Child brides rarely have any say in the decision to marry. 
MDG 4: Child health:
When a mother is under 18, her baby is 60 percent more likely to die in its first year of life than a baby born to a mother older than 19. 
MDG 5: Maternal health:
Girls under 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s. 
Child brides lack the information or the power to negotiate safe sexual practices with their often older and more sexually experienced husbands. 

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