2013-05-22T07:56:47-04:00 Adam Short http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=adam-short Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Adam Short Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1063219 2011-10-28T06:00:17-04:00 2011-12-28T05:12:01-05:00

Adam Short http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-short/
Leaders can agree to adopt the reform agenda as set out in the final report of the Eminent Persons Group or broker compromises that side-step from this much needed change. The former, we are assured by members of the Eminent Persons Group, would support the Commonwealth to find its place in the world by putting the protection and promotion of human rights at the core of its work. The latter, much to the disappointment of the many civil society organisations and indeed many of the government delegations attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, would gravely set back any chance of making the Commonwealth fit for our contemporary world any time soon.

However, at a Plan and Royal Commonwealth Society event, 'Silence is not an option': Strengthening the role of the Commonwealth in protecting human rights, hosted on the fringe of the negotiations, a vision of a credible and robust Commonwealth could be spotted. A Commonwealth that would practice its shared values not simply recite them.

On the issue of the early and forced marriage of girls the speakers, including Australian member of the Eminent Persons Group Michael Kirby, Rt Hon Baroness Ashton of the EU, and the Foreign Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, were all unanimous about the importance of ending forced marriage, realising gender equality and working to ensure girls all over the world have access to quality education as a means to ending poverty.

Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, Foreign Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, opened the evening with a story of his mother who was married at the age of 13 and had to give up her education. He said the experience made her passionate about ensuring her own children - sons and daughters - made the most of their education.

Dr Rambachan stressed that "we cannot turn a blind eye to the needs and vulnerabilities of our women and girls. As a collective body of the Commonwealth, we must tackle this pressing issue head on. Silence is not an option".

Michael Kirby affirmed that the Eminent Persons Group report has references to early and forced marriage, and "that it is a very strong view of the EPG" that girls should not be forced into marriage.

The Rt Hon Baroness Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, who took the UK's forced marriage bill through the House of Lords, also emphasised action on early and forced marriage as one of many human rights issues that the global community needs to maintain focus on. Ashton, speaking about the EU and perhaps providing subtle advice to the Commonwealth, said: "Human rights are a silver thread throughout all our work. It is not an add-on." She said that early and forced marriage was a tragedy for girls and their families. "It's time to stop it," she said. She emphasised that achieving this goal requires strengthening existing laws as well as working with families and communities to help them to understand why children should not be married early.

Underscoring the importance of efforts to improve the lives of the Commonwealth's girls' The Queen reminded the assembled prime ministers and presidents at the opening ceremony that the Commonwealth theme this year is Women as Agents of Change. The Queen, who is head of the Commonwealth, added of the theme, "It reminds us of the potential in our societies that is yet to be fully unlocked, and it encourages us to find ways to allow all girls and women to play their full part".

Whether the Commonwealth takes real and tangible action on human rights issues is the test that awaits leaders in Perth. There are many human rights issues like early and forced marriage that affect the lives of the Commonwealth's two billion citizens. As Plan and The Royal Commonwealth Society have set out in Empowering Girls: what the Commonwealth can do to end early and forced marriage - silence needs to give way to action.

When the leaders of the Commonwealth speak with a collective voice on some of the most challenging issues affecting today's world, they do so with great moral authority. In recent years, this power to influence has been under-utilised by an overly-cautious Commonwealth. Leaders can this weekend demonstrate the global moral leadership that once did - and can - define the Commonwealth's unique identity on a crowded international stage.

This weekend Commonwealth leaders must choose reform and that must mean the realisation of rights.
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Adam Short http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-short/
The marriage of young girls often against their will is a harmful practice embedded in many cultures and traditions. The causes are complex but driven by factors that include gender inequalities, poverty, negative traditional or religious norms, weak enforcement of law and the pressures caused by conflict and natural disasters. It is a cross border issue affecting all countries including the UK.

For the girl early and forced marriage is a brutal transition from childhood to adulthood that all too often harms her education and health. Being forced to get married early is one of the biggest obstacles to education facing the 75 million girls not going to school. If the girl survives childbirth her children are less likely to grow up healthy and go to school, continuing the cycle of poverty for generations to come. Early and forced marriage harms boys too, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Plan works with more than 700,000 girls in 48 countries across the developing world and many tell us that they do not want to marry early and their fears of being forced to leave school if they do so.

There are many examples of communities themselves working to halt the practice of girls pressurised to marry early, including young campaigners and community and religious leaders in Egypt, Bangladesh and India, three countries with high numbers of child brides.

In the same way these community elders and young friends now recognise early and forced marriage as an abuse of human rights that ignores a girl's best interests, Plan and the Royal Commonwealth Society hope through its campaign ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in October will prompt the associations 54 leaders' to act.

In our joint policy paper launched today, 'Empowering Girls: what the Commonwealth can do to end early and forced marriage', we outline why the leaders of the Commonwealth can no longer ignore the issue of forced marriage.
The Commonwealth needs to take action to protect the human rights of all its citizens but given the Commonwealth's focus this year on women and girls, the time is right for Commonwealth Leaders to take action to end this violation of the most basic of fundamental rights. ]]>