MY ADVOCACY FOR ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE IN AFRICA

I am an unapologetically strong advocate for Ending Child Marriage in Africa. Throughout 2020, I dedicated myself to this cause under the UNICEF and African Union program.  

There is no moral or health justification for forcing a child into marriage. Marriage requires not only physical maturity but also mental and emotional readiness.  

The health implications for child brides are severe and life-threatening:  

1. Maternal Health Risks: Children giving birth face obstructed labor, obstetric fistula, hemorrhage, and high maternal mortality. Their bodies are undeveloped for pregnancy.  

2. Mental Health Trauma: Depression, PTSD, anxiety, and suicide risk escalate due to forced marriage and sexual violence.  

3. Reproductive Damage: Early pregnancy increases risks of cervical cancer, infertility, and sexually transmitted infections (including HIV).  

4. Developmental Harm: A child’s brain is still forming they need safety, play, and education, not trauma that disrupts cognitive growth.  

A 12-year-old belongs in school, not a maternity ward. She may hear adult struggles, but she cannot process them her brain lacks the development to comprehend marriage, childbirth, or abuse.  

We must collectively end child marriage in Africa.

  

My advocacy continues.  

#EndChildMarriageInAfrica  

#UNICEF  

#AfricanUnion  

Until the moment when will shall dance in white Greater Grace.

Oyugbo Osagie Jonah