Topic: Eradicating Child Marriage
Country: Azerbaijan
Delegate Name: Shamus Carey
School: Royal Oak High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Azerbaijan position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
A practice that has been held for centuries throughout the world is marrying of young children, be it for economic or social gain, the reason is hardly ever the choice of the child. Many nations have taken measures to stop this institution, Azerbaijan has laws against both men and women marrying before the age of 18, this law has, in fact decreased the number of marriages of children below those ages, though undocumented marriage cases do occur in order to continue this practice. This issue is a cultural one, and to change culture is highly difficult, though not impossible, but does require a delicate touch.
Azerbaijan would stress that the United Nations not enforce any protocol encouraging the punishment of the children or their spouses, as it is not a blatant act of defiance, but merely a continuation of a centuries old culture, which no governmental body will keep them from. However, an encouragement of laws in countries to ban any institutionalized marriage of underage citizens could be a promising start to the process of removing the act entirely.
Another approach to this issue is through education. Citizens of developing nations are unlikely to understand the physical and developmental harm that could be caused by such a marriage or any children conceived by underage mothers, harming the children they would raise and who would also end up taking care of them. The thoughts of STIs is also rarely considered prior to these affairs, and proper education on the topic and the harm it could cause to these prospective parents could cause the parties involved to think again before going through with it.
Despite the religious nature of this matter, through a regimen of laws and education, Azerbaijan believes that this problem could be gradually overcome, allowing a more stable and sustaining environment for developing nations who need it.
