Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Dakar Senegal, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is urging countries in la Francophonie to do all they can to put an end to forced marriages involving children.
Harper told the opening ceremony of the summit of French-speaking nations in Senegal today that 100 million females were forced into marriage between 2004 and 2014 before becoming adults.
He said everyone suffers when girls don’t reach their full potential: the girls themselves, their children, their countries and society as a whole.
Harper described family as the foundation of society, adding that it cannot thrive if it is based on constraint and inequality.
The summit ends Sunday, the day a new secretary general of la Francophonie will be elected to succeed the outgoing Abdou Diouf.
Former governor general Michaelle Jean is one of five candidates in the race.
Harper is at the summit alongside two premiers — Quebec’s Philippe Couillard and New Brunswick’s Brian Gallant.
