International Day of the Girl Child. My Life, My Right, End Child Marriage.

International Day of the Girl Child, observed by the UN for the first time this year on 11 October, is a celebration of the progress made in promoting girls’ rights and a recognition of the work still to be done in eliminating gender inequalities between girls and boys.

On this occasion the regional Offices in the Americas and the Caribbean of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women, the Secretary-General UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), would like to express their concern over the situation of millions of girls and adolescent girls in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially those living in extreme poverty or subject to gender-based and other kinds of discrimination and violence.

Latin America and the Caribbean is the only region with some countries where adolescent fertility rates are stagnant or increasing instead of decreasing. Currently, the average fertility rate of adolescents age 15-19 is 70.5 per 1,000 births. Many adolescent girls in this region are prematurely becoming pregnant, raising children, getting married or in union. Most of them are from rural and poor areas, many of them are victims of sexual violence. For some, pregnancy, marriage or union is the only way to survive. All these girls are vulnerable and forced into situations that further increase their vulnerability. Most of them, will end up dropping out of school, having less employment prospects, being less empowered, more dependent on others (often times their abuser). This will likely perpetuate the cycle of poverty and violence – a life that no woman deserves.

Adolescent girls face higher risks of pregnancy-related complications and maternal mortality than do older women. Girls who give birth before the age of 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their twenties If a mother is under the age of 18, the risk that her infant will die in its first year of life is 60 per cent greater than that of a child born to a mother older than 19. Moreover, even if the child survives, he or she is more likely to suffer from low birth weight, undernutrition and late physical and cognitive development.

Countries that are starting to adopt and implement aggressive laws and policies to prevent early pregnancy and gender-based violence are highly commended by UNFPA, UN Women, the UNiTE campaign and UNICEF. However, in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean the legal age of marriage for girls continues to be as young as 14 and even 12 and 13 years old in a few countries. This is contributing to too many girls giving birth, getting married or in union at a very young age. The agencies recommend governments to adopt decisive and concerted measures to ensure that every girl in this region has the right to a childhood that provides her with the opportunity to reach her full potential.

• 11-10-2012