Search
Close this search box.

COVID-19 Is Pushing Girls to Marry Early and Drop Out of School: Reports (Global Citizen)


Some girls are prioritizing marriage and children over education.

Girls in developing countries are so afraid of dying from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, that they are considering marrying and having children sooner, according to new reports.

CAMFED, an organization that focuses on the education of girls in sub-Saharan Africa, says because the pandemic has worsened poverty and food insecurity — and with most schools closed — some girls are prioritizing marriage and children over education. 

According to CAMFED association member Rose Alexander, who works to prevent and annul child marriages in Malawi, some people are saying, “Schools won’t reopen, so just marry.” 

In response to such sentiments, CAMFED members like Alexander have been reaching out to girls and describing the risks of child marriage and early pregnancy, while supporting girls in their studies.

Seventy-eight percent of respondents to a survey sponsored by the Center for Global Development, (CGD), a Washington-based research group, also expressed concerns about school closures increasing gender-based violence.

Schools, and the wraparound social support they provide, can be a safe space for children, especially girls, where they can be supported to navigate issues they face at school and home,” said Faith Nkala, national director of CAMFED Zimbabwe.

In its March COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Interim Technical Brief, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) pointed to heightened dangers girls might face during the pandemic.

“Women and girls are at greater risk of experiencing gender-based violence and the threat of harmful practices, including female genital mutilation and child, early, and forced marriages, especially for girls in disadvantaged and hard-to-reach areas,” the brief said.

The United Nations called the global surge in gender-based violence the “shadow pandemic.”

The same CGD survey showed that girls will be disproportionately harmed by school closures related to COVID-19.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they believed girls are more likely to be negatively affected by COVID-19 school closures than boys. 

Of the 69%, more than half cited increased household chores during the pandemic as hindering continued education, and 40% said early marriage and pregnancy as a result of school closures were a worry.

The survey included responses from 82 organizations providing educational services in at least 32 countries. Half the participating organizations were from Sub-Saharan Africa. The rest dispersed across South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America. 

Other organizations detail similar issues.

The Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), echoed worries about the devaluing of girls’ education during the pandemic.

It takes time and work to gain acceptance for the value of girls’ education in many remote areas, and I fear we will lose much of the ground that has been gained for this current generation of girls,” said Sakena Yacoobi, executive director of AIL, and founder of four private high schools in Afghanistan.

Concerns about girls’ education and well-being during the current pandemic mirrors those during the 2014 to 2015 Ebola epidemic. 

A report  by the Malala Fund found that at the peak of the Ebola crisis, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone closed more than 10,000 schools, impacting the education of approximately 5 million school children. 

The enrollment of girls in these three countries, already lower than that of boys, did not return to pre-Ebola crisis levels.

UNESCO reported an increase in adolescent pregnancies by up to 65% in some Sierra Leone communities during the Ebola epidemic — a situation most girls attributed to the direct result of being outside the protective environment provided by schools, another study revealed. 

To prevent similar outcomes during the coronavirus pandemic, UNESCO has asked governments to “protect progress made in favor of girls’ education.” 

For the educational service organizations that participated in CGD’s recent survey, however, budget cuts and a dip in funding from private and philanthropic donors as a result of the pandemic made continuing their missions difficult. 

Despite these hurdles, the majority of respondents reported plans to deliver additional vital interventions during the pandemic.

 

Original article: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/child-marriage-early-pregnancy-covid-19-survey/

Table of Contents

Trending

Test

Ban ki-moon

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlights the urgent necessity of boosting climate adaptation financing in Africa In a recent article published by The Guardian, Ban

Adesina

At the recent Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Akinwumi Adesina emphasized the necessity of recalibrating Africa’s GDP to reflect the continent’s vast natural resources and

Regina Honu

Discover Regina Honu’s mission to close Ghana’s digital gender gap, empowering thousands of women through Soronko Academy. Bridging the Gender Gap Regina Honu is bridging

Boyan Slate

Explore Boyan Slat’s revolutionary efforts to combat marine debris. At just 18, he initiated a global movement to cleanse our oceans, turning an ambitious idea

mohammed rezwan

Discover how Mohammed Rezwan, a visionary architect in Bangladesh, is revolutionizing education and community development amidst the severe challenges of climate change. Through the creation

Laureate News

August 24, 2022The Royal Society Researchers, technicians, students and support staff responsible for the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine have been awarded the Royal Society’s Copley

August 23, 2022World Health Organization A total of 100 000 doses of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine (Jcovden) were delivered to Ukraine this month under the

The Elders stress neutrality on Ukraine cannot be an option following Kyiv visit

The Elders stress neutrality on Ukraine cannot be an option following Kyiv visit August 17, 2022The Elders Link to the original articlehttps://theelders.org/news/elders-stress-neutrality-ukraine-cannot-be-option-following-kyiv-visit Statement: The Elders call

African Development Bank to Deliver Certified Wheat, Seeds to 20m Farmers – Adesina August 10, 2022Blueprint President, African Development Bank (AfDB) Dr Akinwumi Adesina says the

15 November 2021 The Guardian The Kiribati government has announced it will open up one of the world’s largest marine protected areas to commercial fishing,

<Ban Ki-moon> Crises tend to bring out some of the best and the worst in us. We have watched in awe and admiration as health

On Key

Related Posts