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When a Girl Has No Voice: Child Marriage in South Sudan

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Background

The Republic of South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in July of 2011 following a referendum held in January of that year. The world’s newest country was left with a legacy of more than 50 years of conflict and instability, as well as massive development requirements, particularly those in the education sector. By 2030, all girls and boys should have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary school, according to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4). According to the UNESCO SDG 4 Data Book by Target, South Sudan had the highest out-of-school rate (61% in 2015) for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age. Nowadays, an estimates 2.8 million children which is represented by more than 70%, are out of school. Such a situation threatens their futures as well as the country’s, according to UNICEF. Some of the out-of-school children live in pastoral villages and are unable to attend regular classes due to their cattle’s movement. The majority of out-of-school children are represented by girls in South Sudan.

Education Challenges

            Girls Facing Child and Early Marriage

            South Sudan’s extremely low rates of school enrollment and literacy among females are mostly due to early and forced marriages. It is also a leading cause of female school dropout. South Sudan is failing to meet its commitment to ensure equal access to education for boys and girls by failing to curb child marriages (Human Rights Watch, 2013). In 2015, a study was published by the International Rescue Committee, Global Women’s Institute, and Care International to examine the number of child marriages among a representative sample of 2,728 (of which 2,244 were women) adults aged 15 to 64 in three South Sudanese locations. Rape and child and forced marriages are all on the rise, according to the survey findings. As shown in figure 1, 78 percent of 615 Rumbek females and girls married between the ages of 15 and 19, while 7% were under the age of 15 at the time of their first marriage. Unfavorable sociocultural attitudes and behaviors that prohibit women and females from enrolling in, staying in, and completing their basic education are some of the most significant challenges to female education in South Sudan. Rape and child marriage are negative sociocultural attitudes that determine a female’s value by the amount of bride price/dowry she can leave her family when she marries. In a country where most of the population lives in poverty and many people struggle, marrying off a daughter is a definite way for families to acquire resources. As a result, girls are frequently married off for this reason, often at a young age when they are not physically or psychologically developed enough to adequately carry the physiological and psychological duties that come with marriage. Because a South Sudanese female’s social/cultural worth is often based on her ability to bring in bride price and carry children, many parents/communities do not perceive the value of investing in her education (Garang, 2019). This results in a low percentage of girl’s graduation rate in South Sudan. Furthermore, parents play a role in girls marrying against their will. Sometimes, parents threat to harm and even kill them. Up to a quarter of female respondents (ranging from 10% in Juba to 25% in Rumbek) said they had no say or input in the decision to marry (No Safe Place, 2017). As shown in figure 2 more than 50% of the respondents from Rumbek said that their families arranged the girl’s marriages.

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(Figure 1)

(Figure 2)  

South Sudan Plans to Provide More Access to Education

            The National School Feeding Program (NSFP) is aligned with the national Poverty Reduction Strategy and the GESP, 2017-2022, and aims to increase access and improve the quality of education in South Sudan through improved nutrition, gender equality, and other socioeconomic benefits. The NSFP covers all school-aged children in all states, including those enrolled in public pre-primary, primary (P1-P8), secondary (S1-S4), community self-help schools, alternative education system centers, and learners enrolled in National Teachers Training Institutes. School children receive on-site meals through the NSFP, as well as “Take Home Rations” for children who attend school for a certain number of days. The NSFP is also moving toward more decentralization, putting more responsibility on state and county levels, and leveraging existing community-based institutions like parent-teacher associations, school management committees, and village chiefs. Partnerships are an important part of the NSFP’s implementation, and they necessitate strong horizontal and vertical cooperation under the Ministry of General Education and Instruction’s overall supervision (UNESCO, 2021).

Conclusion

            To conclude, the poor education system in South Sudan is a contributing factor to these unintended teenage pregnancy and child marriage in South Sudan. Thus, the government in South Sudan should enact laws that will protect girls to go to school and protect them from being married off at a young age. It must ensure that females who marry do so freely and with their full consent. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, acknowledge the right to marriage based on the spouses’ “full and free consent.”

References

Sites DOT MIISThe Middlebury Institute site network.