UK calls for action on child and early forced marriage in Mozambique
9 May 2014 03:42 PM
DFID Mozambique and
International Development Minster Lynne Featherstone host summit on child and
early forced marriage.
A major summit on ending child
and early forced marriage in Mozambique has been held by the UK’s
Department for International Development.
Mozambique has one of the
highest rates of child and early forced marriage (CEFM) in the world, with
around 1 in 2 girls married before their 18th birthday. There’s growing
recognition of the problem in the country, which until recently has been under
acknowledged.
The summit, hosted by DFID
Mozambique and International Development Minster Lynne Featherstone, brought
together the Mozambican government, the African Union, civil society, private
sector and donors for the first time to pledge to ‘break the
silence’ on CEFM and start to take action.
The event forms part of the UK
government’s overall commitment to do more to tackle CEFM, which will
include an international summit on the issue hosted by the Prime Minister in
London in July.
International Development
Minister Lynne Featherstone said:
When a girl is forced into
marriage doors are closed and her world shrinks. She becomes more vulnerable,
is more likely to suffer domestic violence, sexual abuse and to stay living in
poverty.
Local action is vital if we are
to see an end to this practice on a global scale. The commitments achieved at
this summit by key community members, are an important step in bringing an end
to child and early forced marriage in Mozambique.
The summit also forms part of
DFID Mozambique’s work to increase its support for girls. This is in
response to increasing and disproportionate numbers of women falling into
poverty.