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At least 16 teenagers were rescued from forced marriages in Eastern Equatoria state in 2021, a paramount chief representing the state has said.

According to a report by the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, more than 650 million women alive today were married off before the age of 18.

In South Sudan, 58% of girls are married before 18 years of age, depriving them of their basic rights as children.

As a major concern in the country, the government together with other partners organized the second national conference on ending child marriage.

The conference aimed at implementing the strategic National Action plan to end child marriage by 2030.

Speaking at the end of the three-day conference, paramount Chief Enrico Jacob attributed ignorance in the society and parents prioritizing wealth over their children’s wellbeing to be the main contributing factors.

“We managed to stop sixteen cases, some of them in court now and others still in the police department,” Chief Jacob said.

The hardest part is when the groom is a rich person, the girl will run with him, but if he is a poor man, you will find the girl’s father opening a police case asking for his dowry.

“We have to keep carrying out awareness as we usually do. We are informing parents that whoever is involved in the marriage of a minor girl will face legal procedures.”

The just concluded conference was attended by representatives of government and its development partners and more than 100 paramount chiefs from across the country.

It was organized by the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, in partnership with UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.