10/11/12

Child Marriage

Jennifer Redner

Show Description:
It’s one of the least known scourges of our times – early and forced marriage. Child marriage for short.

The average American does not know that in the developing world, 1 in 7 girls are forced to marry before their 15th birthday. That’s 10 million per year, with some girl brides as young as eight or nine. Worse? The husbands are often much older --30, 40 and even 50 years old.

In 2011, world leaders like Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, and Desmond Tutu said “Enough!” They formed a global partnership called Girls Not Brides. It’s grown like wildfire to include over 180 organizations working to end child marriage** all over the world.

Now, in conjunction with the first ever International Day of the Girl Child on October 11th, the U.S. members of Girls Not Brides are spearheading an effort to raise awareness and about child marriage and pressure the U.S. administration to increase political and financial investments to end this awful tradition.

Jennifer Redner is a US Policy Consultant at Good Works Group Inc. and Co Chair of Girls Not Brides USA. Jennifer joins host Catherine Bradford to talk about International Day of the Girl Child and the compelling and often shocking issue of child marriage.

Please join me for this important conversation!!! Together we can change what has never been acceptable!

Girls Not Brides: http://girlsnotbrides.org
Day of the Girl: http://dayofthegirl.org

http://www.iwhc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3384&Itemid=578#jennifer%20redner

Guest Bio:
Jennifer Redner is a Senior Program Officer, U.S. Foreign Policy and Advocacy. She previously worked with IWHC as a consultant for nearly five years. Jennifer’s work focuses on improving the effectiveness of efforts to support the health and rights of women and young people around the world through its policies, funding, and programs. To achieve this goal, Jennifer is a leader in a number of technical and advocacy coalitions and working groups; speaks regularly in public forums; designs and executes trainings, workshops, and events; provides radio, print, and television interviews; and educates Members of Congress and Administration officials about the importance of and benefits gained from investing in women and girls. Jennifer previously worked for organizations such as the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Population Council, and the International Center for Research on Women assisting with the research and analysis of successful programs and interventions on a range of topics including the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children, gender norms, and child marriage. Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and her Master of Arts in International Development from American University in Washington, D.C.