Education is the smartest way to end child marriage - Acting Ambassador
This year, the European Union Delegation to the Republic of South Sudan fully participated in the Girls Taking Over campaign. This initiative, led by organisations such as Plan International, sees girls and young women temporarily 'take over' leadership positions to promote gender equality and demonstrate their potential. During the campaign, 17-year-old Betty China took on the role of EU Ambassador Pelle Enarsson. She made a great impression, advocating for concerted efforts to curb rampant child marriages in her beloved country, South Sudan. As she concluded her assignment, she and the Ambassador held a question-and-answer session with excerpts below.
Q1 - What are the causes of early marriage?
Betty- Some of the causes of early marriage are forced displacement and discrimination. We also have cultural norms and ongoing conflicts, which often lead girls to drop out of school. And of course, poverty plays a big role.
EUDSSD/PLAN INTERNATIONAL
Q2- This goes to the EU, what is the EU doing about the child marriage causes that Betty has just cited?
Ambassador Pelle: Well, in the general sense, as we heard Betty say here, the conflict situation is a big issue. And we are here to help this country build peace and development, which would lead to better potential to also establish laws and norms regarding child marriage. So, I think peace and stability is the first critical thing we need to build. Additionally, we of course need to support, young women that are especially exposed in this situation.
We are working with UN partners and other partners to raise awareness on the issue. It's not only about early marriage, but it's also about violence against children. And in war, armed violence against children is a very serious issue. It has been increasing in South Sudan for the last years. You have very bad examples about girls being forced into partnerships in the armed groups. These are issues that we need to highlight, and it all comes from the insecurity and the instability in this country.
Q3- And what should really be done with regards to the peace agreement?
Ambassador Pelle: I think we have a very sophisticated and balanced peace agreement here. Most of the then warring parties have signed. The region has guaranteed this peace agreement. So, the only real way forward is to have a full implementation of this agreement. A full implementation of the peace agreement will create the foundation for dealing with more concrete issues like child marriage and other laws and regulations that are needed to protect children such as creating conditions for girls to go and remain in school.
Q4 - To our ambassador of the day, I guess you enjoyed your day around the Delegation, moving around, taking your responsibility as the head of delegation, what could be your message to the girls out there?
Betty: Alright, thank you once more. What I would like to share with my fellow girls is that they should be free from fear. In case they go through this thing, they should report. They should not ignore, or they should not fear to report some of the issues that are affecting them. We are representing the voice of voiceless. We need our voices to be heard outside. I also want to encourage all girls to be confident and to stay in school. Education is the strongest—and the smartest—way to solve the problems we face.
Ambassador Pelle: I completely agree. I had the privilege of working under this young ambassador (Betty) for a whole day earlier this week. I can assure everyone that we had an incredibly strong representative for the #girlstakingoverday. Betty, you made a very strong case for the issues, including in external meetings with other partners here. You were representing us and I'm incredibly impressed by the way you represented the EU in this conversation. So, thank you very much for coming here.
EUDSSD/PLAN INTERNATIONAL
Betty: Thank you.
Ambassador Pelle: Good luck. I hope to see you back in the future as an ambassador.
EUDSSD/PLAN INTERNATIONAL