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Every year there are 5 million girls married[br]under the age of 15. Child Marriage exists

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around the world. In South Asia, Sub-Saharan[br]Africa, the Middle East and North Africa.

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It's across regions, it's across cultures,[br]it's across religions. Child is an abuse of

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human rights. Girls are married at an age[br]in which they are supposed to be in school.

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They are supposed to be protected. And they[br]are called to be playing roles of adults,

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and they are girls. When I was 8 years old[br]and my sister was 10 years old, my uncle came

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to our grandfather's place and he told him,[br]I think now these girls are big enough for

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circumcision. So, you know, you first have[br]to be circumcised for you to get married.

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We managed to escape for the first time. And[br]then, my uncle came. We were beaten and all

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that and then we had to tell him, uncle we[br]promise that next time we are not going to

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run away. These children who have to sleep[br]with old men, don't even know what they're

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going to be doing in bed. And it is vicious.Traditionally,[br]culturally, it is accepted, especially in

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the rural areas. And also because of poverty.[br]Poverty is the main reason for early marriage.

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When the family is very poor and they have[br]many children, boys and girls, they prefer

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to send some of the female from the house[br]to another family.For the individual girl,

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it can be a time when her life changes dramatically.[br]But when you magnify that across a whole country,

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you can see the impact it has at a macro level.[br]When girls are marrying below the age of 15,

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they are interrupting their education too[br]soon, they are reducing their economic potential

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in perpetuity, they are at much greater risk[br]of dying in childbirth, of their infant dying

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in the first year of life, and are going to[br]experience higher lifetime fertility and greater

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rates of poverty, that magnified across the[br]country really perpetuates a cycle of poverty

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for these countries.[br]Issues related to human security, issues like

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child marriage, are simply not soft issues.[br]They are issues that can affect the stability

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of countries, they are issues that can affect[br]the economic development of these countries.

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They are every bit as dangerous as wars over[br]natural resources or wars that result from

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cultural differences. We as a global community[br]not only have a moral interest in protecting

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young girls in particular but we have our[br]own security interest at heart.

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If you care about economic development, you[br]care about investing in women in girls, you

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care about reducing maternal mortality and[br]infant mortality, you have to look at child

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marriage as a driver of all of these things.[br]The evidence shows us, and common sense would

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show us as well, that education can delay[br]and even prevent child marriage. It can raise

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incomes and it certainly can improve health.[br](4:30)There are a number of ways that the

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international community has sought in the[br]past to address isues like child marriage.

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Frequently, we adopt sanctions. We've also[br]seen situations where we try to name and shame.

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In other situations we try to address it through[br]general economic development approaches, through

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girls' empowerment and girls' education. And[br]then there are other situations where you

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want to act with local actors, whether those[br]are legislators or government officials or

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traditional leaders. And what we've found[br]all around the world is that empowering those

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individuals within their own societies who[br]can speak to their counter parts has been

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by far the most effective approach.[br]You don't just empower them by telling them

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this is bad. (5:19)You need to target decision[br]makers, what we call the cultural elders.

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We need to involve the young men because they[br]are the future husbands of these girls, they

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are the ones who are marrying them. Everyone[br]needs to get informed, and let the decision

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come from them.[br](5:40) it is not a disease, child marriage.

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It's a social condition. We are not talking[br]about Polio, here. We are talking about social

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engineering that will require many, many things[br]in place to really eradicate this. I think

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that it can be done within a generation.[br](6:05) The issue of child marriage has been

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elevated in recent years both in terms of[br]U.S. foreign policy and on the world stage.

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And at the country level I think we are also[br]seeing signs of progress. So for example,

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take a country like Ethiopia where you have[br]a government that has actually committed to

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addressing this issue.[br](6:29) One day, if I get a girl, I think she's

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really going to enjoy all the rights I didn't[br]enjoy. She's going to go to school, definitely

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she's not going to get circumcised, she's[br]not going to get married. Well, if she wants

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to get married it's fine, if she doesn't want[br]to get married, that's it. I can't really

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force her. She's going to decide for herself[br]what she wants.