Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse
Real lives
Early marriage thwarts girls’ potential in Ethiopia
Twelve-year old Tizalem stands against the outer wall of her parents’ hut in her village in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. She is getting ready for the neighbourhood hairdresser who will be arriving shortly to braid her hair.
Weah speaks out about child soldiers
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and international football star George Weah was in New York last week for the United Nations conference on Liberia. His visit came on the heels of a week-long stay in Liberia where he met with former child soldiers and hundreds of other children.
Preventing early marriage in Niger and Benin
“We, the girls of this region, ask our parents to not give us in marriage at an early age and to not arrange marriages for us.” This bold statement, made by 14-year-old Sahanatou Abdou, was met with a deathly silence from the assembled audience of elders and peers in a village in Niger.
Addressing sexual abuse in Sri Lanka
Most sexual abuse occurs within the privacy of the family. Nishani is a young Sri Lankan girl, who was 11 years old when her mother’s lover sexually abused her. The abuse was encouraged by the mother herself.
