By Oluchi Achi Uzodimma – Child Shield Initiative
Conflicts have profound socio-economic and developmental impacts on humans, far beyond direct deaths and injuries. Girls more often bear the indirect consequences of conflicts because of their fragility. During conflicts, Early Child marriage has been used as a strategy to save young girls from being part of the crises.
Conflict also increase the chance of sexual violence against girls.
In 2015, more than 190 countries committed to end child marriage by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2017, a Human Rights Council Resolution recognized that child, early, and forced marriage is a human-rights violation.
Despite these efforts, the latest estimates show that one in five girls marry under the age of 18 (UNICEF 2021). Recent studies and anecdotal evidence by humanitarians indicate that this rate is likely even higher for girls who are caught up in conflict and humanitarian crises (Girls Not Brides 2020; UNICEF 2016).
This makes girls more vulnerable to early marriage as parents perceive marriage as a means to protect and provide for their daughters.
Due to the protracted nature of conflict, most girls spend their entire childhoods in displacement and this creates easy access to be either married off or taken forcefully into marriage.
During Terriorist raids, girls are the most targeted, the most abducted, and the most molested. Most of these under age girls are taken as brides and are forced to get pregnant and become mothers as children.
The physical, emotional, and mental health impacts these violations have on girls have detrimental impacts on their healthy development in the long term if not addressed.
These girls have the right to a safe and healthy environment, yet conflicts and those who cause it won’t allow these girls enjoy their childhood.
Attacks on schools where these girls are found and constant community razing where they live continues to be a major driver of child marriage.
The effect of crises can not be counted, this year marks 10 years since 276 girls were abducted from Chibok secondary school in Borno state on 14 April 2014. Since then, Amnesty International has documented at least 17 cases of mass abductions in which at least 1,700 children were seized from their schools by gunmen and taken into the bush, where, in many cases, they were subjected to serious abuse, including rape.
It’s devastating that these girls still live with their abductors and forced to get married to them
The safety of the girl child should be prioritized and included in policies. Girls should be kept in safe space where conflicts will not arise and forced them into early marriage. Girls should also be included in Peacebuilding processes.
By being included in prevention and response strategies early, girls can play an active role towards sustainable peace as they mature into mothers.
A start would be to engage with them at the very beginning of peace processes.
Programs which will raise the voices of girls should be inclusive in processes.
Inclusion does not only mean promoting girls participation in formal settings, but also recognising where they have impact.
The UN, all governments and NGOs therefore have a lot to do to encourage and assist girls in developing their role in leadership and peacebuilding activities by ensuring that girls play a key role in leadership and peacebuilding activities
Oluchi Achi Uzodimma
Child Shield Initiative
