Ending Child Marriages

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Date: 
Sunday, September 12, 2010 - 6:30pm
Friends are invited to a discussion and potluck about Ending Child Marriages at the William Penn House.
 
515 East Capitol Street, SE  Washington, D.C. 20003
(202) 543-5560 \
info@williampennhouse.org\
 
Margaret Greene, PhD, will present information concerning child marriage as a global problem. Nearly ten million girls around the world marry every year as children, many as young as ages 8 or 9. Thirty-eight percent of girls marry before age 18 in the developing world (excluding China). In several countries in West Africa and in Bangladesh, two-thirds of girls are married before age 18.
 
Child marriage lies at the intersection of a broad set of problems facing girls. The practice violates girls’ human rights, curtails their schooling, harms their health, and sharply constrains their futures. The negative consequences of child marriage ripple across entire societies, undermining achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. If we can significantly reduce child marriage, we can improve girls’ health and development and that of their families, communities, and nations.
Margaret Greene will talk about an initiative being launched by a group of non-governmental organizations, donors and others, with the support of The Elders. The Elders (http://www.theelders.org/ are an independent group of global leaders, brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007, who offer their collective influence and experience to support peace-building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity. In their efforts to promote equality for women and girls, The Elders have identified child marriage as an important starting point. 
 
Dr. Margaret Greene has worked for over twenty years on a broad range of topics relating to the social and cultural determinants of health, adolescent reproductive health, development policy and gender. She is widely known for her work on engaging men and boys for gender equality and on the conditions faced by girls in poor countries, and has worked at a number of well-respected institutions including the Population Council, the Center for Health and Gender Equity and the International Center for Research on Women. She is Vice Chair of the board of Advocates for Youth and Secretary of the board of the Willows Foundation, which works to improve women’s reproductive health in Turkey.