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Millions of Girls Married Early Lose Out on Health, Schooling

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- While most girls inNorth America are starting a new school year this week, millions of their peers across the developing world must stay home and stop their education because they have become child brides. The result is a continuing spiral of poverty, illiteracy and maternal and child health problems in impoverished and underdeveloped communities worldwide, humanitarian workers say.

Child and early marriage -- before the ages of 14 and 18, respectively -- are expected to claim the futures of some 100 million girls in the next decade, depriving most of them of the chance to finish school and putting them at higher risk of injury or death due to early childbearing, and of contracting HIV. Aid workers also report that the current global food crisis is exacerbating the practice, pushing more poor families to send young daughters into marriage in their struggle to cope with the strains of deeper poverty and hunger.

"Before She's Ready: 15 Places Girls Marry by 15," a new briefing paper from Christian humanitarian organization World Vision, illustrates the causes and human costs of early marriage in countries and regions where it is most common. With contributions from development and advocacy workers in the field, the report also highlights innovative and successful programs in countries ranging fromAfghanistan toZambia where a variety of approaches aim to tackle the underlying needs that often fuel the practice.

Media are invited to a conference call on the paper's release, where World Vision specialists fromAfrica andSouth Asia will discuss the impact in their regions, and on girls' education globally. World Vision works in relief, development and advocacy in 100 nations, focusing on the well-being of children and their communities.

    Date:                                  Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008
    Time:                                  10:30 a.m. EDT
    Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada):  +866.699.3239
    Call-in toll number (US/Canada):       +1.408.792.6300
    Attendee access code:                  1244.4371

Global call-in numbers: https://wvi.webex.com/wvi/globalcallin.php?serviceType=MC&ED=102456737&tollFre e=1

Experts will include:

Karoline Davis, National Coordinator for Gender and Development, World Vision India.

-- Davis, based inChennai, will discuss the trends inIndia and promising approaches for delaying marriage in area development programmes and an HIV prevention project inMumbai.

Ruthi Hoffman Hanchett, Policy Officer for Education, World Vision International

-- Hoffman Hanchett brings a background in gender rights integration to advocacy for better education policy for girls

Amboka Wameyo, Advocacy Program Integration Manager, World Vision Canada.

-- A Kenyan who previously led the agency's regional advocacy for 25 African countries, Wameyo can address the need for local advocacy based in high-incidence countries to promote better policies to protect girl children.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. We serve all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. For more information, please visit http://www.worldvision.org

SOURCE World Vision

Tags: ,HEA,MTC,EDU,CHI,POL,NPT,SVY,WOM,CCA,Married-girls-health

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Millions of Girls Married Early Lose Out on Health, Schooling