World

Bangladesh's Little Girls Given Hope to Avoid Early Marriage

by Barbara McPherson | November 20, 2009 at 10:26 am

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NGO's working in Bangladesh to register children's births are giving hope to little girls to avoid early marriages. Bangladesh is a signatory to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC or CRC) which prohibits child marriages. Many children's births in Bangladesh are not registered and so the little girls have no way to prove that they are underage.

Twenty years ago the United Nations adopted the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The CRC or UNCRC, is an international treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children.

Nations that ratify the UNCRC are bound to it by international law.

As of December 2008, 193 signatories have ratified it, including every member of the United Nations except the US and Somalia.

Child brides forced to marry to help pay off family debts or to reduce the number of people to feed often places her in life threatening situations. They are often subjected to violence and abuse.

Pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of mortality for girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide.

While this is often linked to poor health care, the risks are increased by the physical immaturity of the girls, according to Unicef.

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israeli.agent

at 19:03 on November 20th, 2009

Good story.

Alongwith UNHRC efforts, one must see the real reason behind the child marriage explosion - to expand the religion. It is some kind of Olympics motto - earlier , faster and more.

.Agent.