Stronger youth activism engaging traditional and religious leaders can eliminate Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM), a global human rights issue disproportionately affecting girls, said Plan International on Wednesday. “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. 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,” said Bhagyashri Dengle, Executive Director, Asia Pacific and Gender Transformative Policy & Practice, Plan International. “At first, the villagers didn’t take my initiative very well. They didn’t pay attention to my words. But I didn’t lose hope. I have continued advocating against child marriage whenever I find some free time in between my studies,” shared Sweeti from Bangladesh who is a passionate and influential advocate and vocal promoter of issues relating to child marriage and girls' health. Sweeti and several other girls and stakeholders across the region featured in 20 stories of this collection.  They are bold change makers 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.  These stories of grassroots redemption prove that tales of tragedy can also become tales of survival and triumph. The international development organisation urged the use of digital technology, cyber platforms and online solutions, as well as promoting accessible and quality gender-responsive services that can be used to promote effective strategies to eliminate CEFM, as well as to prevent and reduce adolescent pregnancies in Asia-Pacific, including Bangladesh.  Plan International came up with the urge as they launched a collection of testimonies titled “Louder than Words”.  READ: 16 Days of Activism: USAID workshop highlights empowering women journalists It is a collection of testimonies reflecting girls’ and boys’ activism in collaboration with Plan International in tackling and challenging root-causes of CEFM to prevent this harmful practice and achieve girls’ empowerment and equality.  The testimonies promote, celebrate and highlight the regional efforts to prevent and end CEFM that has evolved into a regional initiative called Time to Act! Child marriage frequently leads to serious negative consequences, denying millions of girls the opportunity to fulfil 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. 

As students across the country are back to classrooms after one of the world's longest Covid closure, many of them missed their peers with officials concerned in Kurigram fearing that at least 50,000 kids may have dropped out due to early marriage and poverty in the district. Teachers and concerned officials gave this observation to UNB as school reopened on Sunday after nearly 18 months amid a festive atmosphere and calls for maintaining Covid health guidelines. District Secondary Education Officer Shamsul Alam said, “We inspected 5 schools in Kurigram Sadar on Sunday. Around 13 % of students have dropped out from these institutions during school closure. As many as 63 girls were victims of child marriage.” Read: Reopening: Flooding robs of Kurigram students’ enthusiasm According to “our assumptions, the total number of school dropouts in the district would be around 50,000,” he said adding “We have directed the concerned individuals to present an exact figure as soon as possible.” After a reality check at the schools in different upazilas of the district including Ulipur and Kurigram, the UNB correspondent reported that the number of absentees was 20-25 % on average in all the institutions. The correspondent added that most of the students dropped out due to economic reasons and a significant amount due to early marriage. Read No tiffin, masks at a premium, & may close again: Students return to school tomorrow

A new campaign has been launched to encourage people to condemn child marriage in Bangladesh that has thrived in the shadow of the pandemic. The initiative -- 'Actions to Prevent Child Marriage in Bangladesh' -- is also designed to support every girl’s dream to achieve their aspirations and will help advance the objectives of Bangladesh’s 10-year National Plan of Action to End Child Marriage (2018-2030).  Read: Patuakhali child marriage: case filed against UP chairman and five others The campaign, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will seek to collect one million pledges from adolescents, parents, community leaders, policy makers, business leaders and civil society representatives to prevent child marriage.  This will remind people that everyone has a responsibility to protect girls from early marriage, create a safe and healthy environment for girls and boys in their communities to help them reach their full potential in life, which in turn, would benefit the society, said the US Embassy in Dhaka.  “Child marriage is a human rights violation. We all must take charge to end a complex issue like child marriage that requires efforts along many fronts," said Xerses Sidhwa, Director of the Office of Population, Health, Nutrition, and Education of USAID.   USAID will continue to work to protect young Bangladeshis from this harmful practice, and work alongside the government of Bangladesh and other partners to eliminate child marriage, which undermines efforts to promote sustainable development, said Sidhwa. Speaking at the launching event, Women and Children Affairs Secretary Md Sayedul Islam said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is committed to eliminate child marriage from Bangladesh by 2041.  "The government, development partners, non-government organisations, the private sector and relevant stakeholders must all work together to make it a reality.”  Read: Child marriage rate still over 80% in Bhola He thanked USAID for initiating this timely campaign to help reduce child marriage that has thrived in the shadow of the pandemic. Amir Hossain, Director of Information, Education, Motivation unit of the Directorate General of Family Planning, officials from the US Embassy in Bangladesh, and representatives of other national and international organisations also attended the event. Bangladesh has made notable progress in curbing child marriage, with several studies showing a decline in the same. Proportion of girls who married before the age of 16 declined from 46 percent to 32 percent between 2007-2017, while those who married before age 18 (the legal age) fell from 66 percent to 59 percent, according to the studies. However, Bangladesh is witnessing a sharp rise in child marriages during the Covid-19 pandemic, driven by multiple factors including reduced income, especially in lower-income families, and school closures, said the US Embassy. Read:13,886 child marriages in 7 months during Covid-19 outbreak: MJF USAID’s Ujjiban Social Behaviour Change Communication project, implemented by Johns Hopkins University, is leading the public awareness campaign highlighting the health risks of early pregnancy and the high returns of investing in girls’ education.  The campaign will also help generate awareness about the current law in Bangladesh that prohibits child marriage, instruct people how to use existing mechanisms to report incidents in their community, and help victims.

A seventh grader from Sirajganj’s Belkuchi upazila was saved from early marriage at the intervention of the local administration on Thursday night.

The man first caught a glimpse of Marie Kamara as she ran with her friends past his house near the village primary school. Soon after, he proposed to the fifth-grader.

An estimated 500,000 more girls are at the risk of being forced into child marriage globally and as many as one million more are expected to become pregnant in 2020 as a result of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a study from the Save the Children revealed the information. 

The coastal district of Satkhira has seen a surge in the number of child marriage in recent months.

Chandpur, Oct 29 (UNB) –A tenth grader girl was saved from early marriage at Pirojpur village in Hajiganj upazila on Monday.

Chandpur, Sept 6 (UNB) – A 14-year old girl saved herself from early marriage dialing helpline 333 (used for redressal of social problem) at Daulatpur village in Matlab Dakkhin upazila on Thursday.