South Sudan on Friday joined the rest of the world in marking World Children’s Day with a call to end child marriage.
The UN World Children’s Day is celebrated on 20 November each year and this year was commemorated under the theme “Run to End Child Marriage in South Sudan.”
The day is put aside to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide and improve children’s welfare.
Speaking during the event held in Juba on Friday, Lily Kiden, the chairperson of the Specialized Committee of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare at the national parliament, stressed the need to protect children from early marriage.
“We protect our children by sending them to school, giving our children rights to health, shelter, food, and other basic needs,” she said. “As a government, we have the right to make sure that our children go to school, get proper education, and are protected from what is called early marriage.”
“I know in South Sudan there is what is called forced marriage which contributes to early marriage,” the legislator added.
For her part, Hamida Lasseko, the UNICEF Country Representative, said child marriage has a great impact on girls.
“Child marriage greatly impacts girls across the country with more than half of them still married before the age of 18. This harmful practice forces young girls into marriages before they are physically and emotionally ready,” she asserted. “As we heard from the children, it (early marriage) impacts their health with increased gender-based violence and early pregnancy which robs them of their childhood, education, and their dreams.”