The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is holding its first-ever panel discussion on child marriage on 5 September in New-York. The panel, requested by last year's first General Assembly resolution on child marriage, will focus on the post-2015 development agenda - a new set of sustainable goals due to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - and the development costs of child marriage.
New UNICEF data estimates that there are 700 million women alive today who were married before the age of 18. 250 million of those women were married before they were 15. Child marriage is a violation of human rights and a significant contributor to poverty, domestic violence, maternal and infant mortality, and illiteracy.
Ending child marriage will be instrumental in building a safer, healthier and more prosperous world for all.
Moderated by Mabel van Oranje, Chair of Girls Not Brides, the panel discussion will address the human rights and development impacts of child, early and forced marriages, what can be done to end child marriage - including successful interventions - and what need to happen, particularly in the post-2015 agenda, if we want to end child marriage within a generation.
First-ever UNGA panel discussion on child marriage and implications for post-2015 agenda
WHAT: Panel Discussion on Child, Early and Forced Marriage Worldwide, including the Elaboration of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
WHEN: 10:00-13:00 ET, Friday, 5 September 2014.
WHERE: Conference Room 3, Conference Building, United Nations, New York
MODERATOR: Mabel van Oranje, Chair of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
PANELLISTS:
BACKGROUND:
- Mr John Hendra, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy and Programme, UN Women
- Ms. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Secretary General of World YWCA and Goodwill Ambassador for the African Union’s Campaign to End Child Marriage.
- Ms Ndodeye Bassey-Obongha, Coordinator at Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI), Nigeria
- Mr. Amjad Rabi, Chief of Social Policy and Economic Analysis Section, UNICEF Nepal
- Dr. Anita Raj, Director of University of California San Diego's Center on Gender Equity and Health and Professor in the Division of Global Public Health.
New UNICEF data estimates that there are 700 million women alive today who were married before the age of 18. 250 million of those women were married before they were 15. Child marriage is a violation of human rights and a significant contributor to poverty, domestic violence, maternal and infant mortality, and illiteracy.
This panel discussion will address the human rights and development impacts of child, early and forced marriages, with particular emphasis on the post-2015 agenda. The panel will also address the imperatives for ending child marriage, and the challenges to be overcome.
Last year, the United Nations member states passed the first General Assembly resolution 68/148 on child, early and forced marriage.
ACCREDITATION: UN-accredited media and NGOs are welcome to attend. Please email media@girlsnotbrides.org if you require further information.
TWITTER: #endchildmarriage #post2015 @GirlsNotBrides
WEBCAST: webtv.un.org
www.GirlsNotBrides.org