WEBVTT 00:00:22.710 --> 00:00:29.710 Every year there are 5 million girls married under the age of 15. Child Marriage exists 00:00:32.570 --> 00:00:39.210 around the world. In South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. 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 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. 00:00:57.030 --> 00:01:04.030 They are supposed to be protected. And they are called to be playing roles of adults, 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 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 00:01:20.670 --> 00:01:27.670 circumcision. So, you know, you first have to be circumcised for you to get married. 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 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 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 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 00:02:14.130 --> 00:02:21.130 the rural areas. And also because of poverty. Poverty is the main reason for early marriage. 00:02:22.820 --> 00:02:29.340 When the family is very poor and they have many children, boys and girls, they prefer 00:02:29.340 --> 00:02:36.340 to send some of the female from the house to another family.For the individual girl, 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, 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, 00:02:55.769 --> 00:03:02.769 they are interrupting their education too soon, they are reducing their economic potential 00:03:03.810 --> 00:03:10.540 in perpetuity, they are at much greater risk of dying in childbirth, of their infant dying 00:03:10.540 --> 00:03:16.590 in the first year of life, and are going to experience higher lifetime fertility and greater 00:03:16.590 --> 00:03:22.239 rates of poverty, that magnified across the country really perpetuates a cycle of poverty 00:03:22.239 --> 00:03:26.750 for these countries. Issues related to human security, issues like 00:03:26.750 --> 00:03:33.260 child marriage, are simply not soft issues. They are issues that can affect the stability 00:03:33.260 --> 00:03:40.109 of countries, they are issues that can affect the economic development of these countries. 00:03:40.109 --> 00:03:47.109 They are every bit as dangerous as wars over natural resources or wars that result from 00:03:47.930 --> 00:03:54.930 cultural differences. We as a global community not only have a moral interest in protecting 00:03:57.419 --> 00:04:04.419 young girls in particular but we have our own security interest at heart. 00:04:04.810 --> 00:04:11.269 If you care about economic development, you care about investing in women in girls, you 00:04:11.269 --> 00:04:17.298 care about reducing maternal mortality and infant mortality, you have to look at child 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 00:04:22.770 --> 00:04:29.770 show us as well, that education can delay and even prevent child marriage. It can raise 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 00:04:34.580 --> 00:04:39.780 international community has sought in the past to address isues like child marriage. 00:04:39.780 --> 00:04:46.780 Frequently, we adopt sanctions. We've also seen situations where we try to name and shame. 00:04:46.789 --> 00:04:53.300 In other situations we try to address it through general economic development approaches, through 00:04:53.300 --> 00:04:58.759 girls' empowerment and girls' education. And then there are other situations where you 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:05.759 want to act with local actors, whether those are legislators or government officials or 00:05:06.830 --> 00:05:13.180 traditional leaders. And what we've found all around the world is that empowering those 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:16.469 individuals within their own societies who can speak to their counter parts has been 00:05:16.469 --> 00:05:21.620 by far the most effective approach. You don't just empower them by telling them 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. 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 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:37.180 are the ones who are marrying them. Everyone needs to get informed, and let the decision 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:44.180 come from them. (5:40) it is not a disease, child marriage. 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 00:05:54.069 --> 00:06:01.069 engineering that will require many, many things in place to really eradicate this. I think 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 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. 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, 00:06:19.699 --> 00:06:24.259 take a country like Ethiopia where you have a government that has actually committed to 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:31.259 addressing this issue. (6:29) One day, if I get a girl, I think she's 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 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 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 00:06:48.499 --> 00:06:55.499 force her. She's going to decide for herself what she wants.