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Transcript/Script ETHIOPIA DROUGHT CHILD MARRIAGE (TV)
HEADLINE: Child Marriages Rise in Ethiopia as Desperate Families Seek Drought Relief
TEASER: Incidents of child marriage have more than doubled in Ethiopia’s drought-stricken Somali region, UNICIEF reports
PUBLISHED AT: Thursday, 05/12/2022 AT 10:10am
BYLINE: Linda Givetash
DATELINE: GODE, ETHIOPIA
VIDEOGRAPHER: Michele Spatari
VIDEO EDITOR: Michele Spatari
PRODUCERS: Luis Da Costa, Jason P. Godman
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, BR
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO X
TRT: 2:56
VID APPROVED BY: mia, Salem Solomon
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: There is a radio story accompanying this piece.))
((INTRO))
[[The record drought in Ethiopia has led to a dramatic increase in desperate parents marrying off their children, says the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), with reported child marriages more than doubling so far this year. Aid groups are trying to get much-needed water and other help to drought-hit families to try to curb that trend and protect girls. Linda Givetash reports from Gode, Ethiopia.]]
((NARRATOR))
Unable to feed themselves or their families, people in Ethiopia’s Somali region are fleeing to displacement camps in search of aid.
They’re also using any means to better themselves economically.
Nasteho Bahar Abdi married at 14. But she had to remarry this year because her first husband failed to support her and two daughters.
((Nasteho Bahar Abdi, Displaced Newlywed, (Somali, 09 sec))
“What can I do? I have no skills to work; I did not learn (get an education). My children are suffering.”
((NARRATOR))
Girls getting married before they are 18 is common culturally throughout the country.
The United Nations’ Children’s Fund says 40 percent of Ethiopian women were married under 18.
Faced with economic pressures from the drought, experts say marrying daughters can be a form of relief to families by having one less mouth to feed and gaining a bride price.
((Utpal Moitra, UNICEF Somali Region Chief Field Officer (English, 20 sec))
“Where the drought had hit and was sort of notified as the hotspot woredas as we saw like 63% increase. Of course, these are sort of anecdotal, what we picked up from the different woredas and talking to the communities. But the fact that that number itself gives a pretty scary situation about children.”
((NARRATOR))
Woredas are districts within a state.
UNICEF says surveys suggest child marriages have doubled in the region, but cases could be even higher.
Families don’t openly discuss the issue and marriages aren’t formally registered, because legally, the minimum age for marriage in Ethiopia is 18.
Advocates say raising awareness about the risk to girls may help to discourage the practice.
((Utpal Moitra, UNICEF Somali Region Chief Field Officer (English, 18 sec))
“We are seeing where young mothers, you know, where the malnutrition levels are very high, and the children giving, their children that they are giving birth to are also suffering from acute malnutrition.”
((NARRATOR))
Keeping children in the classroom may also help protect girls from early marriage and pregnancy.
((Alinoor Mohamed, Save the Children, (English, 20 sec))
“Education is the key to combat you know, early child marriage, you know, keep them busy at schools, we tell parents that. Investing in a child is something that, you know, that can help them to have a good return than having the short term, you know, economic benefits from marriage transactions.”
((NARRATOR))
Abdi learned to raise livestock rather than going to school.
Those skills have limited her and others like her amid the drought. But she says wants a different future for her daughters.
((Nasteho Bahar Abdi, Displaced Newlywed, (Somali, 14 sec))
“I am planning for my children to teach them, take them to school when they reach school age. If Allah gives me wealth, I will teach them.”
((NARRATOR))
Abdi says she also encourages other girls in her community to go to school rather than wed.
It’s the message child rights activists hope catches on.
((Linda Givetash, for VOA News, Gode, Ethiopia))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)GODE, ETHIOPIA
Embargo DateMay 12, 2022 16:33 EDT
Byline((Linda Givetash, for VOA News, Gode, Ethiopia))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
