Canada supports campaign to end child marriage

Acting High Commissioner for Canada to India Jess Dutton today participated in the launch of a campaign to end child marriage in Rajasthan.

The event in Jaipur was jointly organised by the Government of Rajasthan, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Speaking on the occasion, the acting High Commissioner said gender equality is not only a human rights issue, but an essential component of sustainable development, social justice, peace and security.

"Canada has made preventing child, early and forced marriage both a foreign policy and a development priority," he added.

The Government of Canada has granted 3.25 million dollars to UNFPA's activities in India focused on ending child marriage. This is part of a 20 million dollars grant to UNFPA for its efforts to end child marriage in Guatemala, Haiti, India, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

In addition, Government of Canada has provided 20 million dollars to UNICEF for efforts to end child marriage in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Yemen and Zambia.