Brussels, 28/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 27 May, the MEPs of the committee on women's rights and gender equality of the European Parliament sent an oral question to the European Commission, calling for an end to the early and forced marriage of girls.
On behalf of their parliamentary committee, Iratxe Garcia Pérez (S&D, Spain) and Anna Maria Corazza Bildt (EPP, Sweden) want to know whether the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs has a concrete action plan to stamp out child marriages, in the framework of trade, cooperation and association agreements with third countries. They stress that the strategic framework of the EU on human rights and democracy, which was adopted in 2012, makes the prevention of child marriages one of the priorities of both the European External Action Service and the member states. “All girls and boys have the right to a childhood in which they can play, enjoy their right to education, be protected from harm, abuse and exploitation, and develop their full potential as citizens, as stipulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child”, the committee on women's rights stresses.
The MEPs also call on the Commission to support information and awareness campaigns to draw the attention of populations experiencing human rights violations of this kind and to reiterate the importance of allowing girls to return to school. The Commission is also urged to provide girls and their families with economic support and incentives to encourage them to abandon these practices. (Isabelle Lamberty)