For millions of girls around the world, marriage isn’t something they daydream about–it’s a nightmare. An estimated 7 million girls worldwide are married at an early age, robbing them of their freedom of choice, an education, and a childhood. The Girl Child Summit on March 23 in Kathmandu, Nepal will bring together activists and children from the region to continue addressing the issue and working toward the goal of ending child marriage by 2030–a target set two years ago at the first Girl Child Summit held in London.
kathmandupost.ekantipur.com – Mar 21, 2016- The Girl Child Summit begins on Wednesday with focus on combating child marriage, contributing to the government’s move to end child-, early- and forceful marriages by 2030.
The Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare, with support from UNICEF and the DFID, is hosting the summit in Kathmandu, where around 60 children from Nepal’s 15 districts where child marriage is prevalent will present their views on the practice.
Morang, Saptari, Udayapur, Makwanpur, Rautahat, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Kalikot, Banke, Dailekh, Surkhet, Bajhang, Baitadi and Doti are the 15 districts with high prevalence of child marriage. The 60 children who will attend the summit have already held district consultations and pre-event workshops.
“Experience tells us that formulating law alone is not enough to wipe out this harmful practice. We can do it only by changing the social perception and we hope this summit will go a long way in helping us fulfill our commitment to ending child marriage by 2030,” said Shankar Prasad Pathak, acting secretary at the ministry.
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