Mabel van Oranje is Chief Executive Officer of The Elders – a group of independent global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela. A global advocate on peace and justice issues for almost two decades, Mabel has been involved in the development of a number of highly effective organizations and campaigns to raise public awareness and persuade the powerful – always with an eye to achieving real change for people on the ground.

As The Elders’ first CEO, Mabel has led the organization’s evolution from a big idea to a credible force for peace-building and human rights worldwide. The Elders recently created Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage to help address traditional practices that perpetuate discrimination and inequality between men and women.

They had never met before
Mabel opens her speech by showing a picture of an older man, and a very, very young girl. “The little girl is Gulan, she is 11 years old. The man next to her is 40 years old. He is not her father. They had never met before, until the day this picture was taken. It was their wedding day.” One can guess what Gulan’s life looks like from that day onwards. She will be taken out of school and has to prove her fertility at such a young age that she is five times more likely to die in childbirth. Children of very young mothers are more likely to be poor and ill. This practice is called child marriage, and globally 10 million girls are victims. On this very day, the future of 27,000 girls is taken.

Child marriage affects six out of eight of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals: universal education, child and maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, gender equality and poverty. It happens all over the globe, “primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, but also in Latin America. And even in Europe. In The Netherlands.” It also happens among all religions, from Christians and Hindus to Muslims. Mabel is convinced the practice of child marriage can be reduced within one generation.

The drivers of child marriage
But how? By addressing the community, not the individual. “When trying to solve a problem, you first need to know what drives it. In the case of child marriage that is  poverty, “because marriage is often intertwined with financial transactions, through dowries,” and security, since in many communities “sexual activity before marirage is highly frowned upon, and might lead to social exclusion, because it brings shame on the girl, the family and even the whole community.” Other than that, child marriage is also driven by gender inequality, “girls are seen as a burden”, and, maybe most importantly, by tradition. “Girls like Gulan are married off so young, because that’s how it has always been done. Deviating from traditions might also lead to the communal disapproval of her parents.”

The community as a means of change
For these reasons, The Elders has started a global campaign: Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage. “We try do to many things,” says Mabel. It all starts with talking about this issue. These 10 million girls are currently invisible, and a problem that is so engrained in cultural norms, and traditions, is a truly sensitive subject. However, “there is a need to tackle harmful traditions.” Second, it is not about one girl at a time, but one community at a time. “Traditions are made by people, so they can also be changed by people.” The campaign aims at bringing communities together to collectively see how child marriage actually harms them. Today, 6000 villages in Western Africa have already addressed the issue. A third means is to guarantee that existing laws are also implemented. “Many countries legally forbid child marriage, but judges, the police, parents and girls themselves are unaware of this.” Also, bringing together girls in girls clubs enables them to speak out collectively if one of them will be married off. This already happens in Ethiopia.

Only one generation away
What does this teach us? Imagine if Gulan’s younger sister would actually remain in school, get healthy and give birth at the time she is ready. “I am convinced, if things were like that, that girls like Gulan would decide that their daughters stay in school – and are not married off. That also means we can end chilld marriage in one generation!”

“Let’s make it happen.”

What can you do? Start talking about this. Sign up to the website. Give financial support to courageous organizations that help tackle this issue on the ground. Or follow Mabel on Twitter @MabelVanOranje.

Share and Enjoy:

• We’ve got a princess coming to town