The South Sudan National Olympic Committee is striving to get rid of bad cultures of child marriage in the country.
President of the Committee, Juma Stephen Luga, says there are some bad cultures of marrying off young girls.
He notes that early marriage is not acceptable in sports so the Olympic Committee is planning to engage the young people to eliminate the culture.
‘We have some cultures which we [Olympic committee] are coming in eradicate such bad habits. One of them is early girl marriage. According to the sports is not acceptable because we have to give the girls their time to exercise their youth time in sports and create their own families when they reach the appropriate age. So it is one of our concern that we campaign and communicate to the Governors that this habit is to be abandoned. All the families have to abide. Any girl below 18 years should not be forced for marriage’. Stephen stresses.
The minimum legal age for marriage in South Sudan is 18 years old and above.
Many families marry off their daughters in exchange for cattle or other resources.
The Olympics President calls on all families in the country to abide by the law to allow girls to go to school and move forward.
He concludes that the South Sudan Olympic Committee plans to create academic sports so that learners are taught sports lessons in schools to develop and identify their talents.