File photo shows refugee children playing games at a refugee camp in Juba, South Sudan, on Nov. 16, 2015. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei)
South Sudan in collaboration with the UN Children's Fund has launched a campaign aimed at ending rampant child marriages in the East African country.
JUBA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan in collaboration with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has launched a campaign aimed at ending rampant child marriages in the East African country.
The campaign which was launched early this week under the slogan "some things are not fit for children, marriage is one of them", will see UNICEF highlight how child marriage can be damaging to girls' education, development, and ultimately their futures.
Ayaa Benjamin Warille, minister of gender, child and social welfare, said child marriage is a harmful social norm that needs to be addressed by all actors.
"This campaign, therefore, comes at just the right time when we need to protect the girls as never before. I call upon everyone in South Sudan in joining hands in ending child marriage in our country," Warille said in a statement issued in Juba.
According to UNICEF, 52 percent of all girls in South Sudan are married before 18 years of age, a cultural practice fueled by debilitating poverty.
South Sudanese pupils who are beneficiaries of the Integrated Essential Emergency Education Services project were with an instructor from the United Nations Children's Fund in a classroom in Juba, capital of South Sudan, July 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Denis Elamu)
South Sudan is one of the countries with deeply entrenched cultural practices and social norms linked to gender.
"We are sending a clear message that marriage is not for children. It harms children, especially girls, and it must end now," Mohamed Ag Ayoya, UNICEF for South Sudan said.
Ayoya said low levels of education and lack of knowledge about the harm caused by early marriage further exacerbates the situation.
UNICEF said it is working with the government to implement the National Strategic Action Plan (2017-2030) to end child marriage by 2030.
About one out of three of all girls in South Sudan become pregnant before turning 15 years of age. ■
