This is a UK-based charity run by Ethiopian former child wives. As our personal experiences have shown, a former child wife may leave Ethiopia and move to the UK and other developed western countries, but she can never leave behind the social, health and economic consequences of child marriage.
Having missed on basic education, and unable to read or write, a former child wife cannot benefit from the activities associated with 8 UN Millennium Development Goals. This seriously affects not only the former child wife, but also her children and the community in which she lives. This charity works to limit the impacts of child marriage.
We thank the following for their support: Ethiopian women Olympic gold medalists Tiki Gelana, Turinesh Debaba and Mersert Defar; The British Members of Parliament who signed Parliamentary Motion No 1135 and the British National Lottery Fund.
At No 10 Downing Street. A Message for the Prime Minister
30.July 2011. The representatives of the ‘Former Child Wives’ Foundation’, also known as the ‘Campaign Against Child Marriage in Ethiopia’ are received at the British Prime Minister’s Office at No 10 Downing Street to present a petition regarding child marriage and the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Video on Child Marriage
The former Child Wife who alerted UK Parliament
Alemtsahye (Alem) Gebrekidan
I was married at 10. While 12 years old girls in the UK and other developed countries were starting in High School, mastering computer skills and passing time by playing with baby dolls; I was already a married mother, juggling child-care with other domestic chores including walking long distances to look for food and water for my husband and children.
