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Africa reveals plans to eliminate child marriage by 2030
AS part of accelerating efforts to eliminate child marriage in Africa by 2030, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called for the economic empowerment of young girls.
The President who was accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet Kataaha Museveni was yesterday speaking at a high level side event on the margins of the 72 Session of the United Nations General Assembly under the theme; “Accelerating Efforts to Eliminate Child Marriage in Africa by 2030” at the UNICEF Labouisse Hall in New York.
President Museveni said that because of poverty, parents marry off their children so that their husbands can look after them but if the young girls are empowered economically and through education and skills, this could reduce on the rate of child marriages as the girls would spend more years in school.
“In the past many young girls in the old African societies were immediately married off the moment they started their menstrual periods due to poor knowledge about biology. Biology now tells us that menstruation does not mean a child is ready for marriage,” he said.
Citing Uganda, the President said that there is need to sensitize people about the right age for one to get married and then for the governments to come up with laws that ban early child marriages. “Once we sensitized Ugandans that before the age of 18 children are too young to be married government legislated and banned marriage before the age of 18 years,” he said.
President Museveni added that there is need follow up the discussion with action, and to find social programs to occupy children such as free education so that children of the poor can study and acquire skills.
“Accelerating Efforts to Eliminate Child Marriage in Africa by 2030”
According to UNICEF, more than 700 million girls and women alive today were married as children. Child marriage is a violation of human rights, compromising the development of girls and often resulting in early pregnancy and social isolation. Young married girls face onerous domestic burdens, constrained decision-making and reduced life choices. This is a human rights violation on a vast scale and a major obstacle to sustainable development. While the practice of child marriage has slowly been declining, particularly for girls under age 15, additional, more concerted efforts are needed to accelerate the pace of change.
The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage offers a framework promoting the right of girls to delay marriage, addressing the conditions that keep the practice in place, and caring for girls already in union.
The programme targets adolescent girls (ages 10-19) at risk of child marriage or already in union, in 12 selected countries: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia.
President Edgar Lungu Chagwa of the Republic of Zambia said that if there is no reduction in child marriages, up to 280 million more girls alive today are at risk of becoming brides before they turn 18 and that the effects of population growth mean that this number will approach 320 million by 2050.
“If current trends continue, the total number of women alive today that were married in childhood will grow from more than 700 million to almost 1 billion women and girls by 2030,” he said.
President Arthur Peter Mutharika of the Republic of Malawi called for political commitment to enable girls at the risk of child marriage to choose and direct their own futures, supporting households in demonstrating positive attitudes towards adolescent girls, and strengthening the systems that deliver services to adolescent girls.
“It will also seek to ensure laws and policies protect and promote adolescent girls’ rights, and highlight the importance of using robust data to inform policies relating to adolescent girls,” he said.
The Executive Director UN Women Phunzile Malmbo Ngcuka, the Canadian Deputy Minister for International Development Diane Jacovella, the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liliane Ploumen, the African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs H.E Mrs. Amira Elfadil Mohammed Elfadil, the Deputy Executive Director UNFPA Ms. Laura Londen and the African Union Goodwill Ambassador for Ending Child Marriages Ms. Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda attended the event.
Former Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Adeolu Akande, has made a fervent appeal to factions within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State to reconcile and unite ahead of the forthcoming local council election.
Addressing party chairmen and chairmanship candidates from the 10 local government areas of Oke Ogun zone, Akande emphasised the critical need for solidarity within the party ranks to secure victory in the elections scheduled for this month.
Highlighting the significance of unity within the party, the former Governor Ajimobi’s aide underscored that Oyo State is inherently an APC stronghold, but internal conflicts hampered the party’s performance in the previous election.
He urged members to set aside their differences and focus on the common goal of delivering a progressive government to the people of the state.
Speaking during the gathering in Otu, headquarters of Itesiwaju Local Government area, Akande stressed the imperative of forgiveness and reconciliation, emphasising that the party’s success hinges on unity. He lauded the efforts of the national leadership in fostering reconciliation, urging members to embrace the spirit of unity.
As a gesture of support, the ex-NCC gaffer provided financial assistance amounting to N500,000 to each of the 10 local government areas to bolster their preparations for the upcoming April 27 election.
The event was attended by APC Chairmen and Chairmanship candidates from the Oke Ogun Zone, alongside 21 former local government chairmen, demonstrating a collective commitment to the party’s success in the forthcoming election.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has made headlines by announcing a further reduction in the price of diesel, dropping it from ₦1200 to ₦1000 naira per litre.
The refinery’s decision comes on the heels of its recent supply at a significantly reduced price of ₦1200 per litre, which was introduced three weeks ago, signifying a remarkable 30 per cent decrease from the previous market price of approximately ₦1600 per litre.
This substantial reduction in diesel prices at Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expected to reiterate positively throughout various sectors of the economy, potentially serving as a catalyst in alleviating the persistently high inflation rate in the country.
In a statement last week, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual and the owner of the refinery, expressed his optimism regarding the potential impact of the price reduction on inflation in Nigeria.
“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient, and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about ₦1900,” he remarked.
As anticipation builds around the implications of this move by Dangote Petroleum Refinery, stakeholders and consumers alike remain hopeful for the positive effects it could bring to the Nigerian economy in the coming months.
More than 50,000 Russian military personnel have died during the Ukraine conflict, the BBC reported Wednesday, citing its own reporters, independent media group Mediazona and volunteers.
They found that more than 27,300 Russian soldiers died during the second year of the war, a 25-percent increase on the first year.
BBC Russian, Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022, using open-source information from official reports and the media, as well as using satellite images of Russian cemeteries to estimate the number of new graves.
The figure of more than 50,000 is eight times higher than the official toll acknowledged by Moscow in September 2022. It does not include deaths of militia in Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine said in February that it had lost 31,000 soldiers, but that figure is also likely to be significantly lower than the true toll.
Russian losses spiked in January 2023 as it launched a large-scale offensive in Donetsk and again months later last year during the battle for the city of Bakhmut.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” at dawn on February 24, 2022, which has since turned into a bloody and attritional war, isolating Russia from the Western world.
Responding to the report, the Kremlin said it did not disclose any information on military deaths and casualties, which falls under the remit of the defence ministry.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added official secrets laws and those covering what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine meant it was “absolutely understandable” that the ministry did not release the figures.
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