For Immediate Release:	May 21, 2009
For More Information:	Kelly Castagnaro, International Women's Health Coalition, 212.979.8500
Sponsor Organization:	International Women's Health Coalition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 21, 2009
Thirty organizations commended House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and the House Foreign Affairs Committee for incorporating provisions to confront child marriage in the State Department Reauthorization Bill. Passed yesterday in Committee, the bill now must be voted on by the House of Representatives. Introduced in the House by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN) and in the Senate by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) earlier this month, the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (HR 2103 and S 987) authorizes U.S. foreign assistance programs to prevent child marriage and provide educational and economic opportunities for girls in the developing world. Chairman Berman’s inclusion of these measures into the State Department Reauthorization bill authorizes funding for programs that protect the health and rights of girls worldwide for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011. “Married girls – some as young as eight, 10 or 12 years old – are condemned to a life of forced labor, coerced sex, extreme poverty and utter hopelessness,” said Congresswoman McCollum (MN-4). “In countries such as Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia, child marriage is nothing short of modern slavery, and we must work to end this damaging practice. My commitment is to make sure girls can avoid the harm of child marriage and instead have the opportunity to learn, grow, and contribute their skills to strengthening their communities and eventually freely decide for themselves who their marriage partner will be. Congress can play a major role in sending a message that child marriage is unacceptable by investing in resources to improve the future and the lives of girls.” Child marriage is common in many parts of the world. Some 60 million girls in the developing world are married, and if current patterns continue, more than 100 million girls will be married during the next 10 years. Child marriage undermines U.S. development investments by limiting the education, health care, social advancement and economic opportunities of millions of girls in the developing world. To succeed in strengthening U.S. foreign policy, including reducing poverty and maximizing our development assistance, ending child marriage must continue to be a policy priority for this Congress and the Administration. We urge Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to include the same legislation (S. 987) in the Senate version of the State Department Reauthorization Act. ### CONTACT: Advocates for Youth (www.advocatesforyouth.org) Marcela Howell, 202.419.3420 x. 42, Marcela@advocatesforyouth.org American Jewish World Service (www.ajws.org) Joshua Berkman, 212.792.2893, jberkman@ajws.org Americans for UNFPA (www.americansforunfpa.org) Deni Robey, 646. 649. 9104/ 646.526.5321 (cell), drobey@americansforunfpa.org CARE (www.care.org) Nolu Crockett-Ntonga, 202-595-2806 (office), 301-219-1969 (cell), nntonga@care.org The Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) (www.cedpa.org) Crystal Lander, MPH, 202.939.2635, clander@cedpa.org Center for Reproductive Rights (www.reproductiverights.org) Dionne Scott, 917.637.3649/ 917.733.4357 (cell), dscott@reprorights.org Coptic Orphans (www.copticorphans.org) Diana Boeke, 703.641. 8910, dboeke@copticorphans.org, Family Violence Prevention Fund (www.endabuse.org) Kiersten Stewart, 202.682.1212, kiersten@endabuse.org FXB USA (www.fxb.org) Kathleen Letchford, 212.697.3566, KLetchford@fxb.org Global Action for Children (www.globalactionforchildren.org) Leila Nimatallah, 202.589.0808 x.223/301.922.9196 (cell) LNimatallah@globalactionforchildren.org Global AIDS Alliance (www.globalaidsalliance.org) Skip Moskey, 202.789.0432, ext. 211/ 202.420.0837 (cell), smoskey@globalaidsalliance.org International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) (www.icrw.org) Sandra Bunch, 202.742.1240, SBunch@icrw.org Stephanie Miedema, 202.742.1212, SMiedema@icrw.org International Planned Parenthood Federation (www.ippf.org) Laura Zaks, 212.214.0287, lzaks@ippfwhr.org International Women’s Health Coalition (www.iwhc.org) Kelly Castagnaro, 212.801.1266/646.707.1004 (cell), kcastagnaro@iwhc.org John Snow, Inc., and World Education, Inc. (www.jsi.com, http://www.worlded.org) Penelope A. Riseborough, 617.482.9485, penelope_riseborough@jsi.com National Council of Jewish Women (www.ncjw.org) Nina Schwartz, 202.296.2588 x.7, nina@ncjwdc.org One By One (www.onebyone.org) Heidi Breeze-Harris, 206. 297. 1418, heidi@fightfistula.org Pathfinder International (www.pathfind.org) Cara Hesse, 617.924.7200 x. 216, chesse@pathfind.org Planned Parenthood Federation of America (www.plannedparenthood.org) Tait Sye, 202.973.4840, Tait.sye@ppfa.org Population Action International (www.populationaction.org) Todd Preston, 202.557.3441, tpreston@popact.org Population Council (www.popcouncil.org) Melissa May, 212. 339.0525, mmay@popcouncil.org The Population Institute (www.populationinstitute.org) Jennie Wetter, 202.544.0068, jwetter@populationinstitute.org Sauti Yetu Center for African Women (www.sautiyetu.org) Asmaa Donahue, 718. 665.2486/ 917.442.7076 (cell), adonahue@sautiyetu.org Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org) Mike Kiernan, 202.640.6630/202.460.0614 (cell), mkiernan@savechildren.org School Girls Unite (www.schoolgirlsunite.org) Wendy Lesko, 301. 929. 8808, schoolgirlsunite@gmail.com Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS) (www.siecus.org) Patrick Malone, 212.819.9770 x316, pmalone@siecus.org United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society (www.umc-gbcs.org) Linda Bales, 202-488-5649, lbales@umc-gbcs.org United Nations Foundation (www.unfoundation.org) Yolanda Taylor, 202-778-1630, ytaylor@unfoundation.org U.S. Fund for UNICEF (www.unicefusa.org) Mark Engman, 202.296.4209, mengman@unicefusa.org U.S. National Committee for UNIFEM Carol Poteat-Buchannan, president@unifem-usnc.org