In this podcast Bushra speaks about why girls get married early; what can be done, and is being done to address this issue and the challenges Terre des Hommes encounters to arrive at a child-marriage-free Asia.
The numbers speak for themselves… '
Globally, each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18. This is 23 girls every minute and one girl every three seconds. Such is the tragic enormity of this issue. It has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economy.'
'Nearly 51 % of girls in Bangladesh are married before the age of 18, and India has the largest number of early married girls in the whole world. And as I explained, just as the problem is multi-dimensional, we need a multi-pronged solution for it, and our approach is focused on changing the preconceived gender notions and roles in the society.'
Bushra explains to us how girls' marriage has a huge impact on their future:
Girls affected by child marriage firstly don't get the opportunity to complete their education. Their dreams are mostly shattered. Many go through early pregnancies and childbirth-related complications that may even cause deaths and they do in certain cases. Their bodies are too fragile to carry children. Poverty makes them lack nourishment. So there are countless cases of anemia. There's a lack of awareness and practice of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Terre de Hommes puts in a lot of effort to make an impact - improving the lives of many girls. But a lot of work remains to be done.
Besides our conversation drawing attention to early girls' marriages, we speak with Bushra about Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace.
I hope you find the podcast informative and take it to heart!