India : In need of a social change...

Most of you are aware that India's population exceeds more than one billion inhabitants. But did you know there are more honor kids in India than there are kids in the United States? Over the past three decades, the Indian government launched various policies to promote the concept of planned parenthood. Schools in major cities like Bombay, New Delhi and Bangalore to name a few are now offering sex education courses to students. However, the situation in rural areas is not promising at all, a change is needed.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund, 25 million children got married under the age of 18. India accounts for 40% of child marriage followed by Nepal. Children get married as early as they're able to talk in villages. It is part of a tradition in the region of Rajhastan. On the one hand, girls get married to men who are much older than them, and on the other hand, both parties get married at an early age. In such regions, it is not a surprise that children get married at the age of 5; as a matter of fact a 12 year old girl can get married to a 22 year old man. While child marriage in India is prohibited, authorities are unfortunately unable to prevent it. In India, a civil marriage is not mandatory. Religion is the dominant thought, and it is all that matters if you decide to get married. There are only 5 officials in charge of preventing child marriage in Rajhastan, a state with a population of over 60m inhabitants.

How is this practice justified by families? One of the main reason is that parents are not able to support their children financially and hence decide to get their daughters married at an early age. This simply means that these young girls are now dependent on their husbands. Once the girl settles into her husband's family, she becomes in charge of domestic work such as cooking, cleaning, farming etc. She also has to be at the full disposal of her mother-in-law. In villages, a marriage costs a whole year worth of salary. The parents then put pressure on these girls to become pregnant. Not only does it put the life of these girls at risk, but it also contributes in increasing our population. It is common in such areas, to see a 15 year old girl with 3 kids.

Child marriage is a phenomena that leads to a vicious cycle : lack of education, lack of independence, no usage of contraceptives etc.  India needs a social change and it's high time our government steps up its pursuit in fighting against such acts. A social reform is needed where education needs to be promoted in such regions.  Less than a year ago in Pakistan, a six-month old child got married to a 25 year old man.

People in rural areas pray to have a son. A daughter represents a huge financial responsibility as parents have to provide dowry to the family their daughter gets married to. A son brings dowry to his family, hence enrichment. In order to stop child abortion, India has implemented a ban on sex determination, as the number of girls in India to the number of boys is plummeting.

Cote D'Ivoire

"Mini Paris": This was the nickname of Abidjan, economic centre of the Ivory Coast, where I was born and raised. This country gained its independence from France in 1960, and was first led by Felix Houphouet-Boigny. Under him, the Ivory Coast achieved a lot : He developed the economy, made this country a stable, peaceful and beautiful place to live in. 

However, after his death in 1993, the country went on a decline. He was succeeded by Bedie, who didn't really help the Ivory Coast fulfill its potential.  Under Bedie, the country's economic growth began to decline. It is no secret that the government was corrupted and most officials would transfer the gains obtained from exports of Cocoa (world's largest producer) to their own personal bank accounts. 

Ivorians were unhappy, protests happened all over the country but nothing really concrete as Bedie was the leader of the PDCI-RDA, the ruling and most popular party. His rival, Alassane Ouatarra who served as Houphouet's Prime Minister was wrongly accused of not being of Ivorian decent, hence  barred from being a candidate. Bedie promoted the concept of "ivoirite". Without going into much details, this concept led to xenophobic behaviours where migrants from neighbouring countries (Burkina Faso especially) were targeted. People were upset that migrants would come to the Ivory Coast, accept lower wages, and hence "take our jobs away".

Nonetheless, Cote D'Ivoire still had its charm, attracting lots of foreigners who enjoyed living in this tropical country. All of this until 1999, where the situation went totally out of control. It all suddenly happened during Christmas Eve. The army, led by Robert Guei, launched a coup d'etat, and ousted Bedie out of the country. We spent Christmas at home, in the dark, with gun firing happening next to our house. Ivory Coast, which was stable since its independence, is now progressively turning into a war zone. This was followed by election disputes, led by countless civil wars, economic instability, frustration, corruption up to today.

The 2010 elections were meant to bring peace back. The main candidates were Gbagbo (who replaced Guei in 2001) and Alassane Ouatarra. The first round was a success in terms of organisation with no major incidents. Ouatarra was declared President with 56% of the votes in the second round. Gbagbo contested this decision, and claimed the results in the North of the country (Ouatarra's region) were rigged. He was adamant, and nothing could stop him. From November 2010 to January 2011, the country had 2 Prime Ministers and 2 Presidents. Ouatarra was recognised by the International community. This led to another round of riots, incidents where people lost their lives. Gbagbo was eventually sent packing with the help of the French troops. 

We can only wait to see what happens next, but it is hard to see peace return to this country. Being born and raised there for thirteen years, it hurts me to see the current situation. The values of Union, Discipline, Travail seem to have been forgotten.