AU To Promote Campaign Against Child Marriage

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A strong delegation from the African Union Commission (AUC) is expected to take active part at the 10th Africa Women Cup of Nations to be held in Yaoundé, capital city of Cameroon from November 19 to December 3, 2016.

The biennial International Football Championship organized by the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) for the women’s national teams of Africa in partnership with the AUC, will bring together a total of eight teams.

The official Opening Ceremony for the AFCON Women 2016 will take place on 19 November 2016. The tournament will be played in two cities: Yaoundé – Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo with the capacity of 38,509 and in the Limbe Municipal Stadium with the capacity of 20,000.

The AUC in collaboration with CAF and UNICEF will join efforts and use the platform to empower women through football in line with Agenda 2063 in support and creation awareness on the continental efforts campaign to End Child Marriage under the awareness theme ‘Together against the Marriage of Young Girls’.

The eight female football teams namely; Cameroon (host), Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe will galvanise many African citizens around the issue of sports and related activities.

The African Union said it is hoping that the competition will clearly demonstrate a true spirit of Pan-Africanism and projects the image of a continent united around the values of peace, dialogue, integration and development, as well as social cohesion among the youths in Africa.

Worth recalling that, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) on 14 June 2012 signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at using football as a tool to promote development, peace and humanitarian objectives for social change in Africa in line with the CAF Statutes which provide as follows, “support of the actions of the African Union and non-governmental organizations related to youth, sport and culture”.

Inspired by the AUC-CAF collaboration past success stories, the AUC will make use the AFCON Women 2016 to promote its vision, activities and key messages in line with the AU 2016 theme on Human Rights with a particular focus on the Rights of Women.

It will also sensitise the population on the AU Agenda 2063 and promote African unity and integration, the realization of children rights, combating child marriage, peace and security in the continent, among others…

The Department of Social Affairs of the AUC is leading the process within the AU Commission for the   successful participation at the AFCON Women 2016 in Cameroon.