OGCEYOD Cameroon on International Day of the Girl Child in Cameroon pt 1

Violence against women is a global pandemic. It is estimated that between 15 and 76 percent of women experience violence at some point in their lifetime. This phenomenon is an indubitable consequence of the ongoing discrimination and inequality between men and women that starts right from childhood.
It is in that context that the United Nations instituted in December 2011 the International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC). This Day which is celebrated each year on 11th October is aimed at generating world arousal on the various concerns of the girl child. The IDGC 2014 focused on a very topical theme: “Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence”
Around the world millions of girls suffer from multiple forms of violence. They include violent sexual assault with up to 50 percent of sexual assaults committed worldwide against girls under 16; harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, with more than 3 million girls in Africa annually at risk of the practice, and child marriages with about 14.1 million child brides found in sub-Saharan Africa; human trafficking with women and girls constituting 80 percent of the estimated 800,000 people ensnared in modern-day slavery across national borders annually, with the majority (79 percent) trafficked for sexual exploitation; sexual harassment in workplaces, schools, streets and public spaces and rape used as a tactic of warfare.
More dramatic are the consequences of Violence against Girls (VAG). In fact, they go beyond the gender barrier and affects society on the whole. With women and girls making up over 50 percent of the world, VAG hampers poverty reduction strategies, reduces productivity, affects future generations, deprives girls from education, harms girls’ health and fuels the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
However it is worldly acknowledged that it is possible to overcome this awful situation. As a matter of fact, girls’ education appears as the main and key solution to most of the difficulties faced by girl children. Girls’ education benefits society as it reduces the number of child marriages and early birth, increases tolerance in communities, leads to faster economic growth, raises up more concern about the environment, saves lives and finally multiplies girl’s job opportunities.
OGCEYOD Cameroon has a target this year 2014 to reach out to 1000 girls in the South West Region between the 11th- 18th October 2014. We are educating girls on the different forms of violence, how to identify when a girl is being violated, motivation to speaking up to violence and ways to curb violence against girls. We have already reached out to 950 girl on the 11th of October 2014 to mark the celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child and promoting the BRING BACK OUR GIRLS campaign.

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