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    • Opinion
    • Women and children's rights

    How birth certificates help fight child marriage

    Delegates from Asian governments will gather this week in Bangkok to discuss how to better enforce civil registration and vital statistics to tackle certain development challenges. One of these is child marriage, we learn in this opinion from Plan International.

    By Jessica Lomelin // 24 November 2014

    Four years ago, Rubi took the exam for her Secondary School Certificate in Dinajpur, Bangladesh. She rushed home to share her results with her family, but when she arrived, she was told that her parents were going to marry her off.

    She was then 15 years old.

    “I was so sad because all I wanted to do was share the good news of my exam results, but that changed once I realized they had arranged my marriage,” said Rubi, a vibrant, ambitious girl and the oldest sibling in a family of 10 who was unable to convince her family that she was too young to get married.

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    • Democracy, Human Rights & Governance
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    The views in this opinion piece do not necessarily reflect Devex's editorial views.

    About the author

    • Jessica Lomelin

      Jessica Lomelin

      Jessica Lomelin is regional online communications specialist for Asia with Plan International. Previously, she worked for the office of U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Rashida Manjoo.

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