Posts Tagged ‘ child marriage ’

The Other Crisis: Making Sure Girls Return to School

May 20th, 2020 | By
girls-school-life-expectancy-ldc

By Suzanne York. It’s obvious that people all over the world have not just been inconvenienced by COVID-19, but many lives have been turned upside down and put at great risk due to a number of factors. Education is one such important sector where students are struggling to adjust.  It’s hard enough in the developed
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Climate Change and the Threat to the Rights of Girls

Feb 12th, 2020 | By
[Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Escaping_child_marriage_(14521096630).jpg]

By Suzanne York. Imagine being a small-scale farmer in a developing country, trying to grow crops in challenging conditions that farmers have faced for generations.  Then increasingly severe climate impacts really start to throw things out of whack.  Droughts, floods, and erratic weather conditions threaten livelihoods and the ability to provide adequate amounts of food
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Cattle, Culture and Sustainability: The View from the Ground

May 20th, 2018 | By
Young Masai herder. [Photo: Andreas Lederer, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.]

By Karen Gaia Pitts, Transition Earth. Cattle are of critical importance to the Maasai people of East Africa and are the primary source of income. The Maasai rely on their land and above all their cattle for their livelihoods, and do so while facing many challenges. The Maasai Harmonial Development and Sustainability (MHDS) project is a community-based organization
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Education Before Marriage: Give Girls a Fighting Chance

Mar 8th, 2018 | By
[photo: UNICEF/UN062031/Vishwanathan]

By Suzanne York. As the world recognizes International Women’s Day this March 8th, there is no shortage of important issues affecting women that should be brought to the table. As movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp have brought little discussed problems to the forefront, there is reason, at long last, to feel hope that “society”
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An Investment in Girls is an Investment for All

Jul 10th, 2016 | By
Jamila Zeyne, who is 20 years old, and who has been married since she was 13, poses for a photograph in her house as  part of a UNICEF photo project to show Girls Empowerment in Mareko, Ethiopia Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. The project aims to document the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Ethiopian girls in different parts of the country. Jamila says: "“I got married because my father forced me to. I was given two options, either to get married or to be sent to the Arab countries to work. I am not happy because I wanted to study. If the government introduces night school in our area I will go back to learn. Early marriage is bad because when we get pregnant and want to deliver, it is very difficult for our bodies. We are too young managing a home is not easy".

By Suzanne York. July 11th is officially recognized as World Population Day, a day meant to raise awareness on the impacts of population growth on people and the environment. This year’s theme for World Population Day is “investing in teenage girls.” In much of the world today their needs are shunted to the back burner
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Climate Change & the Link to Child Marriage

Dec 30th, 2015 | By
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By Suzanne York. Child marriage is a difficult issue that is complicated by culture and religion, and especially by poverty.  Now it seems that climate change is another complicating factor. It might be surprising to find out that extreme weather could be increasing the rate of child marriage and other detrimental impacts on children. But
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Wedding Busters: Betting on Child Marriage-Free Zones

Apr 26th, 2014 | By
[photo credit: www.plan-international.org/girls/childmarriagereport/]

By Suzanne York. Child marriage is a difficult issue that is complicated by culture and religion, and especially by poverty. It takes time and effort to change culture, but it is possible.  Ending poverty is something that many people, organizations, and governments have tried to end for decades, but the challenge is enormous.Yet the will
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Let Girls Be Girls, Not Brides and Wives

Mar 11th, 2014 | By
[photo credit: www.un.org]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org If there was ever an issue that should galvanize the international community to take action – no matter politics or religion – child marriage has to be near the top of the list.  One in three girls in the developing world is married by age eighteen. The United Nations states that
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