Topic:
Country: Viet Nam
Delegate Name: Abby Grocki
Globally, child marriage has found to be a persistent issue negatively impacting young girls. Child marriage is a very concerning topic due to the several issues that happen as a result, such as early pregnancies which are dangerous for the mother and child, social isolation, interruption of schooling, and the limitation of career advancement opportunities. The key reason why child marriage is caused isthe determination of a family to be lifted out of poverty. However, some families believe that child marriage will protect their daughters by marrying them to an older man, and will also increase their economic opportunities, but studies have found that child marriage results in the opposite to these claims. In a child marriage, young women are more likely to receive sexually transmitted infections from non-negotiable sex practices and creates high vulnerability for domestic violence within the marriage. Overall, 12 million girls a year are forced into child marriages, resulting in the negative emotional and physical impacts that can be prevented with the help of the United Nations.
Specifically concerning young women in Vietnam, data on child marriage has proven that 1 in 10 Vietnamese women married before the age of 18. Vietnam has a great interest in resolving this, but progress is blocked due to the lack of investments toward the National Action Plan to Implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. There have also been laws in the past that prohibit child marriage such as the Laws on Marriage and Family and Law on Children and Penal Code along with the help of the Prime Minister approving a National Program to Adress Child Marriage in ethic minority areas. Stating all these and enforcing legal provisions for the minimum age of marriage is important, but not effective in some scenarios. In these cases, people and their families choose to marry for certain reasons including “love marriage” and “Marriage to resolve pregnancy.” It is also found in Vietnam that families follow traditions in which the family arranges marriage for their children.
Vietnam would like to propose a newly updated code on child marriage to prevent unnecessary harm to young women. Along with this, there should be a secure marriage system to ensure safety to those who are beginning a marriage. In addition to legalizing the marriage, couples should be required to meet with professionals to clear them for a safe marriage that will not be harmful to the people in the relationship. Also, these couples should be required to meet with the professional to confirm once again that the marriage is not destructive which could take place every 5 to 10 years. In conclusion, Vietnam does not wish to interfere with the sovereignty of any nation, and would be willing to work to create peace for the young women of Vietnam. In doing so, Vietnam would like to find allies in the United States, Japan, and Australia.
Works Cited
Author UNICEF Viet Nam and UNPFA Viet Nam, and UNICEF Viet Nam and UNPFA Viet Nam. “Ending Child Marriage, Empowering Girls.” UNICEF Viet Nam, 1 Mar. 2018, www.unicef.org/vietnam/reports/ending-child-marriage-empowering-girls.
“Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.” OHCHR, www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CEDAW.aspx.
“Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/economy.htm.
