Hunger Crisis Raises Fears Of More Child Marriages

A recent story from the Washington Post highlights how the current food crisis leads to more child marriages in Niger, where the rate of child marriage is already the highest in the world.

From the author, Sudarsan Raghavan:

Niger has the world’s highest rate of child marriage, with roughly one out of two girls marrying before age 15, some as young as 7. As a hunger crisis affects millions here and across the Sahel region of West Africa, aid workers are concerned that struggling parents might marry off their daughters even earlier for the dowries they fetch, including animals and cash, to help the families survive.
Read more:

Full URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/in-niger-hunger-crisis-raises-fears-of-more-child-marriages/2012/07/09/gJQA8xD9YW_story.html

Full URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/in-niger-hunger-crisis-raises-fears-of-more-child-marriages/2012/07/09/gJQA8xD9YW_story.html

MercyCorps Focuses On Struggles In Niger

We are all concerned about the growing food crisis in Niger, and MercyCorps is ramping up their efforts not only to raise awareness of this dire situation, but to provide direct assistance that is greatly needed in the Sahel.

Some featured articles include:

Cassandra Nelson’s latest blog entry describes the impact the hunger crisis is having on children.

Full URL: http://www.mercycorps.org/cassandranelson/blog/26626

In this video Nelson gives an overview of the crisis and how MercyCorps is beginning to help.

Visual Impact

gallery of images showing the impact MercyCorps is having in Niger

Full URL: http://www.mercycorps.org/photoessay/harvestinghope

The Ongoing Crisis

Read entries from the ongoing food crisis in Niger

Full URL: http://www.mercycorps.org/tags/nigerfoodcrisis

Read all the details about MercyCorps’ programs in Niger.

Full URL: http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/niger/15086

You can help!

Donate to MercyCorps to help fight the Niger food crisis.

Full URL: https://www.mercycorps.org/donate