Child Marriage in Africa

Child marriage is a bad tradition in African nations. At least 30% of girls are married under age of 18. The rates are even higher in some countries, the rates are above 70% in Niger and Chado. Many of them are forced to do so due to their tradition and poverty. 

Child marriage causes mental and physical problems because of young age pregnancy. They also can't get enough education. 

African Union is trying to end child marriage. They started a two years campaign this year. I don't know the details, but I think two years seems too short to end the tradition. Education for both adults and girls is the primary for reducing young age marriage. 

Old generations might hard to change their thoughts. But as educated people including girls increase in Africa, the bad tradition will come to a period at the end of the day. Education, like Malala said, can change the world. 

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Xi Brings Ivory to China

A British nongovernmental group, the Environmental Investgation Agency (EIA) accused that Chinese officials traveling with China's president Xi Jinping last year purchased tons of ivory tusks illegally in Tanzania. Both countries denied that report.

Ivory trade has been banned all over the world to protect wild elephants in Africa. Despite the rule, tens of thousands of elephants are killed every year for their tusks. China is the largest market for snugged ivory tusks because these tusks consider fortune tokens for Chinese people so ivory products can be sold in high prices in the country. 

If this report was true, it seems Chinese and Tanzanian president talked about business trade including illegal ivory at that time and the Asian big country might destroy not only Asian atomosphare by exhausting polluted gas but also African wild environment by killing elephants.


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The Mass Kidnapping in Nigeria

The Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped over 300 school girls in Nigeria last month. Some of the girls escaped, but most of them still cannot return from the terrorist camp. Some escaped girls say that the abductees are forced to cook, clean, and gather firewood and water for the militants group. Nigerian government should do everything they can for rescue the missing girls, but it seems difficult for now. 

TIME magazine said Africa has a long tradition of its girls disappearing without much attention because girls abductions happen everywhere in African continent. Even an extremist Christian group abducted thousands of girls and forced to became sex slaves in Uganda. People not only in Africa but in all over the world should reconsider women's human rights. We should pay attention more on this issue.