Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend an interactive q and a on the issue of child marriage at Plan Canada. There were a few special guests that came to answer some questions from youth like me. The special guests were Princess Mabel, Amina Hanga, and Dr. Ashok Dyalchand.

Princess Mabel is the chair of an organization called “Girls Not Brides,” which focuses on lowering the amount of child marriages in the developing world. Amina Hanga is the Executive Secretary of the Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative in Nigeria, and finally Dr. Ashok Dyalchand is the Director of the Institute for Health Management Pachod in India.

Some of the people who attended were able to ask a question to the special guests. My question was “In which country does child marriage occur the most and why?” The answer was actually Niger because of cultural traditions.

The whole day was really inspiring and eye-opening about the issue of child marriage. Princess Mabel and the other special guests spoke extremely well and were very approachable.

I had such an amazing experience and I definitely learned a lot!

Thanks for joining me on my journey to change the world!

–Diviya