Topic: Eradicating Child Marriage
Country: Rwanda
Delegate Name: Sydney Conroy
School: Kalamazoo Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Rwanda position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
As defined by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is, “a human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.” Any person under the age of eighteen who is found in wedlock with an adult or another child is committing an illegal act. Child, or premature marriage, is seen as a social evil as displayed in the Child Marriage Restraint Act, CMRA, adopted in 1929 whose goal was to eradicate child marriage. The wording of the document created many shortcomings in which countries found loop holes and continues to marry off young girls. Rwanda proudly is working towards the eradication of child marriage.
The Republic of Rwanda is continuing to lower the number of premature marriages, which is one percent for males and three percent for females. The cultural biases, including but not limited to, girls considered to be a burden and women finding justification in being beat by their husbands, don’t have much effect on how many Rwandans attitudes towards child marriage.
Endless solutions to the extermination of child marriage exist. Education is an option that should not be ignored. Girls with a secondary education are statistically up to less than six times less likely to be involved in a premature marriage. Education delays the time before a woman marries, provides an alternative to early marriage, and increases the socio-economic status and potential earnings for girls. Education will allow girls to opportunity to learn about sexual and reproductive health and legal rights. The economic benefit the family receives from not needing to take care of another child is an incentive for sending off their daughter for a premature marriage. Economic benefit will no longer be an issue if the women of the country are educated, it will end the vicious cycle.
Rwanda is a strong advocate for the eradication of child marriage. The benefits that would come from educating girls will help end the large number of child marriages that occur around the world. Rwanda is proud to announce the almost none existent number of child marriages and will continue to advocate the cause till it is no longer an issue.
