Monrovia, March 21 (LINA) – ECOWAS Ministers responsible for gender and women affairs have called on ECOWAS-member states to install social protection systems and public services to put an end to child marriage and promote child rights against violence and abuse.
The call by the ECOWAS Ministers was made recently at the United Nations headquarters in New York at the 63rd Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
A dispatch from New York said that the ECOWAS Ministers responsible for Gender and Women Affairs or their representatives came from Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.
The meeting, according to the dispatch, was held under the theme, « Access of Girls to Social Protection and Public Services as a means to Combat Child Marriage in West Africa. »
It said that the purpose of the meeting was to share good practices on social protection and access to public services as a means to combat child marriage and to define regional priorities on child protection to be implemented by ECOWAS member states.
« This initiative stems from several findings, including the fact that in West Africa about 49% of girls below the age of 18 are in marital relationships and that in spite of the legal age of marriage of 18 years established by the United Nations, certain ECOWAS Member States have not yet harmonized their national laws with international standards, » the dispatch noted.
The dispatch said it has also been realized that the fixing of the legal age of marriage at 18 years or above in certain ECOWAS Member States does not necessarily mean the enforcement of these legal provisions in reality, in spite of the progress made in some countries.
During the meeting, the dispatch noted, the Ministers of Gender and Women Affairs observed that child marriage is one of the primary causes of early pregnancy, maternal and infant mortality, sexually transmissible infections or HIV/AIDS, cancer of the uterus, urinary tract infections, obstetric fistula, traumatism and depression resulting from sexual and physical violence.
They also noted that, in spite of the youthfulness of the ECOWAS population, the region has failed to take advantage of the demographic dividend, owing to the disastrous consequences of child marriage on families and communities.
The ECOWAS Ministers responsible for Gender and Women Affairs also reiterated the need to integrate the fight against child marriage in all the cross-cutting areas that have been clearly articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals, such as health, education, migration, conflict management, empowerment and social protection.
Among other things, they expressed satisfaction with the commitments made by ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in the Vision 2020 to guarantee, for all women and men of the ECOWAS Community, the possibility to live in dignity through respect for all human rights as well as the expansion of opportunities for all.
