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#Blog4Dev Competition: What will it take to end child marriage in your country?

October 19-November 30, 2019

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The 2018 World Bank Group Human Capital Index revealed that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa score the lowest in skills, health, knowledge and resilience of all the world’s regions. This reflects challenges such as high mortality and stunting rates, as well as inadequate student learning outcomes.

Aiming to help Sub-Saharan countries to tackle these issues, the World Bank Africa Region launched its Human Capital Plan with ambitious targets, including a reduction in child mortality to save four million lives, averting stunting among 11 million children, and increasing learning outcomes for girls and boys in school by 20%.

Empowering women to prevent early marriage and pregnancy for adolescent girls is also an objective of the plan. According to Hafez Ghanem, World Bank Vice President for Africa, “the adolescent fertility rate in Sub-Saharan Africa is 102 births per 1,000 girls—three times as high as in South Asia. This not only damaging for girls and their children, but it also hurts economic growth.”

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence of child marriage in the world. Nearly four out of 10 young women in this region were married before the age of 18. These young girls are having their childhoods cut short, but this goes far beyond a moral issue. This situation has a negative impact on development. They are also more likely to have children at a young age, which affects their health, and they are much more likely to drop out of school and complete fewer years of education than expected. This will curb their capacity to enter the job market with the adequate skills, and therefore reducing their potential for higher income.

Estimates for 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa say that child marriage is costing these countries $63 billion in lost earnings and human capital wealth.  Addressing the issue of child marriage is therefore a crucial development challenge for all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

So, we want to hear from you! Share your views by answering the following question: “What will it take to end child marriage in your country?”

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  • Launched in 2014 by the World Bank Kenya office, the Blog4Dev competition is an annual writing contest, inviting young people to weigh in on a topic critical to the country’s economic development. The competition is a way to engage Africa’s youth and provide a platform to share their views—and solutions—about development topics that are important to them. In 2018, it became a regional competition.

  • ELIGIBILITY

    To be eligible for the #Blog4Dev competition, you must:

    • Be a citizen of any of the 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
    • Be between the ages of 18 and 28 years of age on November 30, 2019.
    • Currently reside in a Sub-Saharan African country
    • Not have been a winner of previous editions.

    SUBMISSION

    Using the links below, submit your original blog entry detailing your ideas about what it will take to end Early Child Marriage in your country, written in English, French or Portuguese by November 30, 2019.

    Submissions through email or post will not be accepted.

  • A panel of expert judges from inside and outside the World Bank Group will review all entries and select the top five from each country. The selected authors will be interviewed, and a top winner will be chosen from each country.

    The winning submissions will be selected based on the following criteria:

    • Originality
    • Clarity in Writing and Presentation
    • Practicality and Relevance
    • Potential Impact on Development

  • Winning authors are eligible for several prizes, including being invited to attend a dedicated program during the World Bank – IMF Spring Meetings 2020 in Washington DC, opportunities to represent Africa’s youth at high-level events, a chance to intern at a World Bank Africa country office, or an opportunity to have your blog published on the World Bank Africa blog Youth Transforming Africa.

  • The World Bank Group reserves the right to research and verify the eligibility of any entrants.

    Submissions must be original.  The World Bank Group reserves the right to test every entry with an anti-plagiarism software.

    Submission deadline is November 30, 2019. Late submissions will be disqualified automatically.

    The blog post length should not exceed the following limits: 500 words or less in English, 650 words or less in French and Portuguese. Longer entries will be disqualified.

    Only one submission per entrant will be allowed.

    By entering the contest, participants agree to release the World Bank Group from any claims based on the contest and grant the World Bank Group all rights to their entry, including consent to publish their entered blog post on its website and social media channels.

    Failure to comply with these rules may result in disqualification from the contest. Bloggers agree to comply with and be bound by the decisions of the World Bank Group, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this competition.

    The decisions of the World Bank Group shall be deemed final.

Details

  • Deadline: November 30, 2019
  • ELIGIBILITY: Must be a citizen of, and currently living in, a Sub-Saharan Africa country and be between 18-28 years of age on November 30, 2019.
  • TOPIC: What will it take to end child marriage in your country?
  • CONTACT: Blog4Dev 
  • Blog4Dev@worldbank.org

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