Blog
Posted on April 26, 2019
By Angelia Miranda
(With contributions from Sheila Panyam)
Kristen Dailey, GlobalWA Executive Director, gives open remarks for a panel on ending child marriage, co-hosted by GlobalWA and the Seattle International Foundation. Panelists (L to R) include Thea Handelman, Board Member, Women’s Justice Initiative – Guatemala; Perla Vázquez, Deputy Program Director, Seattle International Foundation, Central America and Mexico Youth Fund (CAMY); Eric Sype, Community Engagement Fellow, UNICEF USA; and Cathy Herholdt, Senior Communications Director, World Concern.
Photo credit: Andie Long/GlobalWA.
Of all the women and girls alive today, 650 million were married before the age of 18. For some, it happened when they were much, much younger. Child marriage, or early marriage, is a practice that is more widespread—and more complex—than one might think. Perpetuated by gender inequities, lack of access to education and resources, and social norms, child marriage is a critical issue that presents severe consequences for the millions of girls still at risk. The UN has identified the elimination of child marriage by 2030 as one of the Sustainable Development Goal targets. According to Kristen Dailey, Executive Director of Global Washington, in order to reach that target the global community needs to work 12 times faster.
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Posted on April 22, 2019
By Cyndie Berg, Director of Business Development, Splash
11 year old Kidist uses the water station at her school in Addis Ababa. Photo credit: Gavin Gough for Splash.
In March, Splash’s Seattle office hosted two of its leaders from Ethiopia: Dawit Alemishet, Country Director, and Kelbessa Wordofa, Director for Project WISE (WASH-in-Schools for Everyone). They were in town to meet with colleagues planning the launch of Project WISE (WASH-in-Schools for Everyone), an initiative to reach every government school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Kolkata, India, with WASH infrastructure (water storage, filtration systems, drinking and handwashing stations, and improved toilet facilities), as well as behavior change programs for children and adults, and strengthened menstrual health services for girls aged 10 and above.
Splash has reached 79 schools serving 78,000 children in Addis Ababa, and 194 schools serving 55,985 children in Kolkata. Through Project WISE, the organization expects to reach approximately 1,600 schools serving one million children by 2023.
Splash’s efforts will benefit even more children like Kidist, a fifth-grader who is 11 years old. Kidist is very pleased about the improvements that Splash has made at her school. She especially loves the different colored drinking and handwashing stations and is attracted to wash her hands and drink from them.
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Posted on March 25, 2019
By Urvashi Gandhi, Director of Advocacy, Breakthrough
11.30 a.m. I was sitting in classroom 8-C when my younger brother came running to call me home. The groom’s family was here. They wanted an early wedding. My father wanted me to go home immediately.
My mother wanted me to wear a sari.
No one asked me what I wanted.
The next day I spoke to my class teacher. I told her I wanted to study. She discussed it with the principal.
She, and fifteen of my classmates came to talk to my father. At first, my father refused to listen, and my classmates refused to leave.
Today, I am back at school. I am studying to take the board exam next year. I am to teach at my village school.
Reena Kumari (name changed), Ranchi
In states like Jharkhand (India), close to 40% of young girls are married before the age of 18.
Even though India has seen a dip in child/early marriage from 47% to 27% it still contributes to one-third of the world’s child brides. These reductions are primarily in the age group of 0-10 years, but adolescent girls still remain at high risk of early marriage.
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