Conflict, poverty and hunger driving child marriage in South Sudan – Oxfam

In Nyal, in the north of the country, Oxfam found that 70 percent of girls are married before the age of 18, significantly higher than the pre-conflict national average of 45 percent. The research also found that one in ten girls in Nyal are married before the age of 15.

Families told Oxfam that, while child marriage is still influenced by traditions, the main drivers are now poverty and hunger fuelled by five years of conflict. A breakdown in the rule of law and increased risk of sexual violence are also factors. Despite a marked reduction in fighting following the peace deal in September 2018, the factors that have exacerbated girls’ risk of child marriage remain.

Elysia Buchanan, Oxfam’s policy adviser in South Sudan, said: “Rising poverty and hunger following five years of vicious civil war are driving families to desperation, with many parents marrying off their young daughters for a dowry in order to survive. Denied their rights to choose how they want to live their lives, the girls face increased risk of losing out on their education, death in childbirth, and sexual and physical violence in their marriage”.

South Sudan is one of the most difficult places in the world for girls to get an education – with three quarters of girls out of school – and child marriage is one of the primary reasons why girls are held back. Child marriage also increases girls’ risk of death or complications during pregnancy and childbirth in a country where the maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. The practice also puts girls at greater risk of sexual, physical and emotional violence. Of the married women and girls interviewed by Oxfam in Nyal, 84 percent said that they had experienced or witnessed sexual violence between husband and wife.

Child marriage has long been a concern in South Sudan and the Government has developed a long-term plan to end the practice while activists across the country are also challenging leaders to push for change. Oxfam is calling on the government to take urgent action by prioritising its plan and investing significantly to end child marriage.

Buchanan said: “Tackling child marriage is first and foremost about protecting young girls. But improving the status of women and girls is also essential for the recovery of South Sudan. Another important step that the country’s leaders can make to show they take South Sudanese women seriously, is to honour commitments made in the peace agreement to ensure 35 percent executive positions are filled by women, and to nominate women in key positions of influence”.

Oxfam is also calling on international donors and humanitarian agencies to direct more funding to community-led initiatives that help tackle gender-based violence and child marriage, including through education and awareness-raising activities that challenge existing norms and expectations.

Buchanan said: “The girls of Nyal want to go to school, play, learn a skill, and make a difference in their community. They need the support of South Sudan’s leaders, international donors and humanitarian agencies to help them achieve the future they deserve – most importantly, they need sustained and long term peace across their country”.

ENDS

For more information or to arrange an interview with a spokesperson in South Sudan, please contact Serena Tramonti on stramonti@oxfam.org.uk or on +44(0)7825780651

Notes to the editor

Download a copy of Born to be Married report;

Oxfam teamed up with international photojournalist Andreea Câmpeanu to find out more about the lives, hopes and dreams of some of the girls in Nyal. The girls called themselves the “Noura Nyal” Kids: “Noura” means “love yourself” in the Nuer language. Asked why they had chosen the name, one girl said: “We should be able to love ourselves more and be allowed to dream about having a better life, a better future.” With Câmpeanu, the girls practiced some basic photography skills and talked about what being a child meant to them and what futures they saw for themselves. They experimented by taking photos of each other to demonstrate their ideas on camera. Photos  available.

Oxfam has a strong and established team in South Sudan, working from 7 bases across the country, providing essential services including emergency food distributions, fixing and building water sources, helping people establish and build farms and other trades. We’re also running education programmes to make sure boys and girls stay in school and that young adults who missed out on education, including because of child marriage, can catch up. Oxfam also helps communities set up protection committees, which empower women and men with knowledge of their rights, and how to claim them and bring about change at community level.