Unity State Official Publicly Declares High Rate of School Dropouts.

An official of South Sudan Unity state has announced the high rate of school dropouts of young woman and girls.

The largest cause is due to forced marriages at an early age, which disinherit young woman and girls to an education.

This is an old practice where parents push their daughters into marriage for wealth. South Sudanese woman and girls face the highest maternal mortality in the world.

South Sudan has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world. Statistics show that woman and young girls are continually being denied access to education. There are twice as many men and boys getting an education than woman.

Michael Chiengjiek Geay, the Unity State’s Minister for Local Government and Law enforcement is urging citizens to join the campaign against forceful marriages and fight the practice.

The State Minister of Gender and Child Welfare has stated that they plan to put in place a policy that prohibits forceful marriages in society.

Published by Sudan Tribue on 9 March 2013, Written by Bonifacio Taban Kuich, Photographs by Getty Images for Human Rights Watch. See original article here.