United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has called upon the entire community to end child marriages and voice their commitment to change the lives of girls and young women for the better.
She made this call during a dialogue with residents, notables of the area, government officials, civil society representatives and members of the local press at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Cultural Complex in Mithi today.
Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka said girls and young women must have the means and information to make their own decisions. They need to know that they are not property. They have both rights and a voice to SAY NO.
She said “When the whole nation commits to tackling deep-rooted traditions like child marriage head-on, millions of girls stand to benefit. This is also a task for men, who can accelerate progress by saying simply ‘I will not marry a child’.
Calling on religious and traditional leaders to use their position of authority to take a stand against violence and protect the rights of girls, the Executive Director received pledges from religious clerics, registrars and local politicians to make Mithi a ‘zero child marriage’ village and set an example for others to follow.
The Sindh Minister for Women Development, Syeda Shehla Raza, said that early child marriage is among the contributing factors to both relatively high rates of maternal and child mortality in Tharparkar, which needs urgent attention through multi-pronged interventions.
The event was held to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign.
