PRESS RELEASE: EXPERTS ON CHILD MARRIAGE FOCUS ON Empowerment OF GIRLS

On Nov 10, The SHOKHI Consortium, led by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) along with Bangladesh Women’s Health Coalition, Marie Stopes and the Population Council convened an expert consultation on ‘Evidence Based Strategies for Ending Child Marriage: Why Empowerment Matters’ at the BRAC Center Inn in the country’s capital.

The SHOKHI Consortium’s call for support by experts was driven by the need to take a multi‐dimensional, longer‐term and holistic approach to programmes which take into account dimensions such as realized rights, health and access to education. They called for reconsidering approaches that exclusively rely on a cost‐benefit framework using single‐focus indicators without taking into account the intrinsic value of adolescent agency choice and voice.

Along with Her Excellency, Leoni Cuelenaere, Ambassador of Netherlands, were present directors, professors, scientists, economists, demographers, human rights lawyers, practitioners and experienced researchers on gender equality who talked about implementing programmes to address child marriage.

Source: http://blast.org.bd/content/pressrelease/10-11-2016-Press-Release-Child-Marriage-eng.pdf