The girls who were married at the age of under 18 years are
more likely to die from birth complications and be infected
with HIV/AIDS than women in 20s , because they are married
to older and more sexually experienced men.
The United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that over the
next ten years more than 140 million girls will be married
before their 18th birthday.
According to the report, if the
present trends continue, 1,382,000 of the young girls born
between 2005 and 2010 will be married/in union before age
18 by 2030.
This was divulged over the weekend by the non-
government organization C-Sema’s child protection and
outreach coordinator, Michael Kehongoh during the “Nijali
Media Dialogue” as part of the activities to celebrate the
Week of the African Child, in Dar es Salaam.
In giving a
country status in child marriage, he said “Girls who marry
older men are difficult to negotiate safe sexual behaviors,
especially when under pressure to bear children…and due
to give birth before their bodies are fully developed they are
at a risk of death or terrible injury and illness in childbirth”.
He added that child marriage occurs more frequently among
girls who are the least educated, poorest and who are living
in the rural areas, education is associated with child
marriage in Tanzania.
Kehongoh said the report of Tanzania
Demographic and Health Survey 2010 shows 61 per cent of
women aged 20 to 24 with no education and 39 per cent
with primary school education were married or in union at
18 years, compared to five per cent of women with
secondary education.
Speaking on the Nijali Dialogues SOS
Children's Villages Tanzania’s National Advocacy
Coordinator, John Batista said the Nijali campaign which will
run for two years is an extension of the SOS Global
campaign “Care for me!" in the Tanzanian context funded by
the Austrian Development Cooperation.
He said the
campaign aims to ensure children throughout Tanzania have
access to services by advocating for resource allocation for
children services by local government offices through
dialogues in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar.
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