‘Louder than Words’ highlights regional efforts to prevent and end child, early and forced marriage

The collection features 20 stories of bold change makers in the Asia Pacific who do not back down but stand strong alongside Plan International in their fight against CEFM.

NL Today

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Kathmandu: Plan International has launched a collection of testimonies titled ‘Louder than Words’. The collection of testimonies reflecting girls’ and boys’ activism, has highlighted the regional efforts to prevent and end Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM).

The collection features 20 stories of bold change-makers in the Asia Pacific who do not back down but stand strong alongside Plan International in their fight against CEFM, demanding a better present and future for themselves and other youth, Plan International said in a statement.

“Each story of grassroots redemption speaks louder than words. These are stories of actions that have led to many small yet significant victories in this perpetual battle of right against might,” said Bhagyashri Dengle, Executive Director, Asia Pacific, and Gender Transformative Policy & Practice, Plan International.

“As we’re exploring these accounts of struggle, familiarity emerges of well-known settings, characters, plots, and tensions – it’s how a story resolves and ends that we need to influence.”

Child, Early and Forced Marriage is a global human rights issue disproportionately affecting girls. Child marriage frequently leads to serious negative consequences, denying millions of girls the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

By 2030, globally more than 800 million women may have suffered the consequences of child marriage, up from more than 650 million today.

The challenge of eliminating child marriage is particularly acute in the Asia-Pacific, where despite steady progress in many countries to reduce CEFM, the practice remains widespread, reads the statement.

South Asia is home to the largest absolute number of child brides, over 12 million girls under 18 are married each year, translating into 23 marriages every minute or one girl every two seconds.

The Pacific region falls right after South Asia in terms of global prevalence, about 8 percent of girls are married by 15 and about 26 percent of girls are married by 18. In Southeast Asia, CEFM rates are significantly high but fluctuate across the region.  Noteworthily, the adolescent birth rate in South East Asia, currently at 47 per 1,000 girls, is higher than the South Asia average of 35 per 1,000 girls.