The Girl-Child

Abstract

Major theme for discussions on development, and unfavorable in view of the persistence, indeed aggravation, of the political and social crisis as well as poverty in the continent. Girls represent half of the 303 million children aged 0-14 who make up 43 per cent of the total population of Africa. The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines the child as every human being below the age of 18. Yet at this age in most sub-Saharan African countries, almost half of the girls are already married, have had their first babies and try to face their responsibilities as individuals, wives and mothers in an environment in which their roles and positions are largely predetermined.