1 00:00:22,710 --> 00:00:29,710 Every year there are 5 million girls married under the age of 15. Child Marriage exists 2 00:00:32,570 --> 00:00:39,210 around the world. In South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. 3 00:00:39,210 --> 00:00:46,210 It's across regions, it's across cultures, it's across religions. Child is an abuse of 4 00:00:49,820 --> 00:00:56,820 human rights. Girls are married at an age in which they are supposed to be in school. 5 00:00:57,030 --> 00:01:04,030 They are supposed to be protected. And they are called to be playing roles of adults, 6 00:01:04,500 --> 00:01:11,500 and they are girls. When I was 8 years old and my sister was 10 years old, my uncle came 7 00:01:14,820 --> 00:01:20,670 to our grandfather's place and he told him, I think now these girls are big enough for 8 00:01:20,670 --> 00:01:27,670 circumcision. So, you know, you first have to be circumcised for you to get married. 9 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:40,320 We managed to escape for the first time. And then, my uncle came. We were beaten and all 10 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:44,200 that and then we had to tell him, uncle we promise that next time we are not going to 11 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:51,200 run away. These children who have to sleep with old men, don't even know what they're 12 00:01:54,090 --> 00:02:01,090 going to be doing in bed. And it is vicious.Traditionally, culturally, it is accepted, especially in 13 00:02:14,130 --> 00:02:21,130 the rural areas. And also because of poverty. Poverty is the main reason for early marriage. 14 00:02:22,820 --> 00:02:29,340 When the family is very poor and they have many children, boys and girls, they prefer 15 00:02:29,340 --> 00:02:36,340 to send some of the female from the house to another family.For the individual girl, 16 00:02:39,750 --> 00:02:46,750 it can be a time when her life changes dramatically. But when you magnify that across a whole country, 17 00:02:48,019 --> 00:02:55,019 you can see the impact it has at a macro level. When girls are marrying below the age of 15, 18 00:02:55,769 --> 00:03:02,769 they are interrupting their education too soon, they are reducing their economic potential 19 00:03:03,810 --> 00:03:10,540 in perpetuity, they are at much greater risk of dying in childbirth, of their infant dying 20 00:03:10,540 --> 00:03:16,590 in the first year of life, and are going to experience higher lifetime fertility and greater 21 00:03:16,590 --> 00:03:22,239 rates of poverty, that magnified across the country really perpetuates a cycle of poverty 22 00:03:22,239 --> 00:03:26,750 for these countries. Issues related to human security, issues like 23 00:03:26,750 --> 00:03:33,260 child marriage, are simply not soft issues. They are issues that can affect the stability 24 00:03:33,260 --> 00:03:40,109 of countries, they are issues that can affect the economic development of these countries. 25 00:03:40,109 --> 00:03:47,109 They are every bit as dangerous as wars over natural resources or wars that result from 26 00:03:47,930 --> 00:03:54,930 cultural differences. We as a global community not only have a moral interest in protecting 27 00:03:57,419 --> 00:04:04,419 young girls in particular but we have our own security interest at heart. 28 00:04:04,810 --> 00:04:11,269 If you care about economic development, you care about investing in women in girls, you 29 00:04:11,269 --> 00:04:17,298 care about reducing maternal mortality and infant mortality, you have to look at child 30 00:04:17,298 --> 00:04:22,770 marriage as a driver of all of these things. The evidence shows us, and common sense would 31 00:04:22,770 --> 00:04:29,770 show us as well, that education can delay and even prevent child marriage. It can raise 32 00:04:29,850 --> 00:04:34,580 incomes and it certainly can improve health. (4:30)There are a number of ways that the 33 00:04:34,580 --> 00:04:39,780 international community has sought in the past to address isues like child marriage. 34 00:04:39,780 --> 00:04:46,780 Frequently, we adopt sanctions. We've also seen situations where we try to name and shame. 35 00:04:46,789 --> 00:04:53,300 In other situations we try to address it through general economic development approaches, through 36 00:04:53,300 --> 00:04:58,759 girls' empowerment and girls' education. And then there are other situations where you 37 00:04:58,759 --> 00:05:05,759 want to act with local actors, whether those are legislators or government officials or 38 00:05:06,830 --> 00:05:13,180 traditional leaders. And what we've found all around the world is that empowering those 39 00:05:13,180 --> 00:05:16,469 individuals within their own societies who can speak to their counter parts has been 40 00:05:16,469 --> 00:05:21,620 by far the most effective approach. You don't just empower them by telling them 41 00:05:21,620 --> 00:05:27,400 this is bad. (5:19)You need to target decision makers, what we call the cultural elders. 42 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,319 We need to involve the young men because they are the future husbands of these girls, they 43 00:05:31,319 --> 00:05:37,180 are the ones who are marrying them. Everyone needs to get informed, and let the decision 44 00:05:37,180 --> 00:05:44,180 come from them. (5:40) it is not a disease, child marriage. 45 00:05:46,740 --> 00:05:53,740 It's a social condition. We are not talking about Polio, here. We are talking about social 46 00:05:54,069 --> 00:06:01,069 engineering that will require many, many things in place to really eradicate this. I think 47 00:06:02,069 --> 00:06:06,499 that it can be done within a generation. (6:05) The issue of child marriage has been 48 00:06:06,499 --> 00:06:13,020 elevated in recent years both in terms of U.S. foreign policy and on the world stage. 49 00:06:13,020 --> 00:06:19,699 And at the country level I think we are also seeing signs of progress. So for example, 50 00:06:19,699 --> 00:06:24,259 take a country like Ethiopia where you have a government that has actually committed to 51 00:06:24,259 --> 00:06:31,259 addressing this issue. (6:29) One day, if I get a girl, I think she's 52 00:06:32,449 --> 00:06:38,499 really going to enjoy all the rights I didn't enjoy. She's going to go to school, definitely 53 00:06:38,499 --> 00:06:43,229 she's not going to get circumcised, she's not going to get married. Well, if she wants 54 00:06:43,229 --> 00:06:48,499 to get married it's fine, if she doesn't want to get married, that's it. I can't really 55 00:06:48,499 --> 00:06:55,499 force her. She's going to decide for herself what she wants.