We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
IN NEPAL 10% of girls are married before the age of 15 and 37% are married before the age of 18, according to Unicef figures.
This is despite the fact the legal age for marriage in the country is 20 for both men and women.
Poverty is the main factor that drives child marriage, as well as being a consequence of it. According to Girls Not Brides – a global partnership of 800 civil society organisations committed to ending child marriage – girls from richer families marry, on average, two years later than those from the poorest families.
However, some communities who live in poverty are challenging this tradition. Action Aid has just completed a 12-year programme in Bara, Nepal, which was funded by hundreds of Irish people through child sponsorship.
Children in rural Bara face many hardships including child labour, marrying young and caste-based discrimination.
The idea of child sponsorship is that an organisation funds community development, benefiting children and families, for a set period of time. Once the community is confident it can continue to develop on its own, the organisation moves on.
As a result of the initiative, many villages in the region are being declared ‘child marriage-free zones’.
In a statement Action Aid said: “Too often, children in the communities of Bara were marrying young and leaving school to work for daily wages in order to support their family’s needs.
“Thanks to these campaigns led and run by children in Bara to encourage more children to attend school, the school enrolment rate has increased from 70% to 90% over the past 12 years.”
In 2005, approximately 40,000 children were out of school in Bara. This figure has reduced dramatically to 6,000.
The overall number of child marriages is harder to define, but is declining. A census carried out in 2011 showed that 53,924 children aged 14 years or under were married (both boys and girls). In 2005, the median age for marriage in Bara was 15.1 years, this has increased to 17.3 years.
Child marriage-free zones
Speaking about his community’s story, 15-year-old Mangal said: “In the past days, marriages were organised at an early age by the parents. They would just have a discussion regarding the amount of dowry to be paid.
“To raise our voice against this unjust practice we submitted a letter to the District Administration Office asking them to declare our village as child marriage-free.
The child marriage ceremonies were boycotted in our village as result of our campaign.
Since 2016, not a single child marriage has occurred in Mangal’s village.
“People are now aware and conscious about child marriage and its effects upon the life of children,” Mangal said.
He is the president of his Children’s Club, a forum originally set up by Action Aid that will continue to be run by the local community and led by children.
A rally to raise awareness about the negative impact of child marriage was organised by the club. The campaign has also helped to minimise child marriages in neighbouring villages.
Children’s Clubs were set up throughout the Bara region as a way of keeping children in school through tackling child marriage and child labour, and by informing children and parents of their rights.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
God love his family.
PLEASE be careful on the roads boys and girls!!!!!
Rip, god bless his family losing a loved one so close to Christmas.
So here is a question – with the new ‘Go Safe’ mobile video vans they claim they are making the roads safer. So why is it the death tolls on the roads are still increasing? Statistically speaking there were less deaths BEFORE they started putting those speed camera vans on the streets. Why are we still throwing money down that rabbit hole if it is not making us any safer and is only acting as a new tax?
Because it is only a tax dressed up under the guise of road safety
I know some really bad corners where the signage is completely inadequate. Eg. Longford to Ballymahon road there’s a 90deg bend just before the t junction to turn left for ballymahon. N.I. have huge signs for such corners. I’ll never understand why they didnt cut the corner and striagthen the road a bit in Buttevant Co.Cork. More cars have turned over in that tight bend that folds back on itself than you could shake a stick at.
Why would you shake a stick at overturned cars?
It’s not excessive speed but driving at inappropiate speed is the main cause of speed related crashes.
This all stick and no carrot approach of the Minister and the RSA is clearly not working. There is no evidence published of drink driving fatalities ever. Pls publish the stats showing how many fatalities due to driving with 50,80, 100, and over blood alcohol levels. What really irks me is that over 99% of fatalities involve excess speed. Why not switch this annual witch hunt to a speed hunt and impose a nation wide 80Klms per hour speed limit on all roads and 100Klms for motorways with double/triple fines for all excess speed offences for this annual Christmas road traffic act compliance experiment.
Kev. Speeding drivers cause a very small percentage of car accidents
have your say