CAF, AU, Unicef Against Early Marriages

A press conference to this effect took place yesterday in Yaounde.

The African Union, UNICEF and the confederation of African football under the Powerplay initiative have partnered together to fight against the marriage of young girls. Speaking in a press conference yesterday at the Hilton hotel in Yaounde, the UNICEF representative, Felicité Tchibondat, said 14 million girls below the age of 18 get forcefully married every year in the world. A view corroborated by the AU representative Mariama Cisse who disclosed that African was the second continent where child marriage is rampant.

This practice they said takes a toll on the health of the girls as well as affects the economy of the nation. It is for this reason that the African union launched the campaign to fight against early marriages on May 29^th, 2014. So far the campaign has been launched in 15 African countries at the national level and Cameroon will be the 16^th country to join the campaign as from Monday.

The AU and UNICEF will be using the opportunity offered by the 10^th edition of the Women’s AFCON to pass messages through posters, video projections, musical performances by Sally Nyolo and a gala night to raise funds to assist girls who are victims of early marriages. The campaign will also visit schools in the company of som...