I'll begin today by sharing a poem written by my friend from Malawi, Eileen Piri. Eileen is only 13 years old, but when we were going through the collection of poetry that we wrote, I found her poem so interesting, so motivating. So I'll read it to you. She entitled her poem "I'll Marry When I Want." (Laughter)
Započet ću tako što ću podijeliti s vama jednu pjesmu koju je napisala moja prijateljica iz Malavija, Eileen Piri. Eileen ima tek 13 godina, ali kada smo prolazili kroz zbirku poezije koju smo napisali, njena pjesma me toliko zaintrigirala, i motivirala. Pročitat ću je. Naslovila ju je "Udat ću se kada ja to želim". (Smijeh)
"I'll marry when I want. My mother can't force me to marry. My father cannot force me to marry. My uncle, my aunt, my brother or sister, cannot force me to marry. No one in the world can force me to marry. I'll marry when I want. Even if you beat me, even if you chase me away, even if you do anything bad to me, I'll marry when I want.
"Udat ću se kada ja to želim. Moja majka me ne može prisiliti na udaju. Moj otac me ne može prisiliti na udaju. Moj ujak, moja ujna, moj brat ili sestra, ne mogu me prisiliti da se udam. Nitko na ovom svijetu ne može me prisiliti da se udam. Udat ću se kada ja to želim. Čak i ako me tučete, čak i ako me naganjate, čak i ako mi učinite išta loše, udat ću se kada ja to želim.
I'll marry when I want, but not before I am well educated, and not before I am all grown up.
Udat ću se kada ja to želim, no ne prije nego što se dobro obrazujem, i ne prije nego što potpuno odrastem.
I'll marry when I want."
Udat ću se kada ja to želim."
This poem might seem odd, written by a 13-year-old girl, but where I and Eileen come from, this poem, which I have just read to you, is a warrior's cry.
Ova pjesma vam se može učiniti neobična, s obzirom da ju je napisala trinaestogodišnjakinja, no tamo odakle ja i Eileen dolazimo, ova pjesma koju sam vam upravo pročitala, je bojni poklik.
I am from Malawi. Malawi is one of the poorest countries, very poor, where gender equality is questionable.
Ja sam iz Malavija. Malavi je jedna od najsiromašnijih zemalja, jako siromašna, gdje je ravnopravnost spolova upitna.
Growing up in that country, I couldn't make my own choices in life. I couldn't even explore personal opportunities in life.
Odrastajući u toj zemlji, nisam mogla sama donositi svoje životne odluke. Čak nisam mogla niti istraživati osobne mogućnosti u životu.
I will tell you a story of two different girls, two beautiful girls. These girls grew up under the same roof. They were eating the same food. Sometimes, they would share clothes, and even shoes. But their lives ended up differently, in two different paths. The other girl is my little sister. My little sister was only 11 years old when she got pregnant. It's a hurtful thing. Not only did it hurt her, even me. I was going through a hard time as well.
Ispričat ću vam priču o dvije različite djevojčice, dvije predivne djevojčice. Te djevojčice odrasle su pod istim krovom. Jele su istu hranu. Ponekad bi dijelile odjeću, čak i cipele. No njihovi životi su se na kraju razišli, krenuli u dva različita smjera. Druga djevojčica je moja mlađa sestra. Imala je samo 11 godina kada je zatrudnjela. To je jako bolno. Nije povrijedilo samo nju, već i mene. I ja sam prolazila kroz težak period.
As it is in my culture, once you reach puberty stage, you are supposed to go to initiation camps. In these initiation camps, you are taught how to sexually please a man. There is this special day, which they call "Very Special Day" where a man who is hired by the community comes to the camp and sleeps with the little girls. Imagine the trauma that these young girls go through every day. Most girls end up pregnant. They even contract HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
U mojoj kulturi je normalno da kada djevojčica uđe u pubertet, mora krenuti u inicijacijski kamp. U tim kampovima, uči vas se kako seksualno zadovoljiti muškarca. Postoji jedan poseban dan, koji nazivaju "Jako poseban dan" kada muškarac kojeg je angažirala zajednica dođe u kamp i spava s djevojčicama. Zamislite traume koje te djevojčice doživljavaju svaki dan. Većina njih zatrudni. Čak obole od HIV-a i side i drugih spolno prenosivih bolesti.
For my little sister, she ended up being pregnant. Today, she's only 16 years old and she has three children. Her first marriage did not survive, nor did her second marriage.
Moja mlađa sestra je zatrudnjela. Danas ima samo 16 godina i ima troje djece. Njen prvi brak nije uspio, kao ni njen drugi brak.
On the other side, there is this girl. She's amazing. (Laughter) (Applause) I call her amazing because she is. She's very fabulous. That girl is me. (Laughter) When I was 13 years old, I was told, you are grown up, you have now reached of age, you're supposed to go to the initiation camp. I was like, "What? I'm not going to go to the initiation camps." You know what the women said to me? "You are a stupid girl. Stubborn. You do not respect the traditions of our society, of our community."
S druge strane, postoji jedna druga djevojka. Fenomenalna je. (Smijeh) (Pljesak) Kažem da je fenomenalna jer je to istina. Sjajna je. Ta djevojka sam ja. (Smijeh) Kada sam imala 13 godina, bilo mi je rečeno da sam odrasla, da sam postala punoljetna, i da bih trebala otići u inicijacijski kamp. Moj odgovor je bio, "Što? Neću ići u inicijacijske kampove." Znate li što su mi govorile žene? "Glupa si. Tvrdoglava. Ne poštuješ tradicije našeg društva i zajednice."
I said no because I knew where I was going. I knew what I wanted in life. I had a lot of dreams as a young girl. I wanted to get well educated, to find a decent job in the future. I was imagining myself as a lawyer, seated on that big chair. Those were the imaginations that were going through my mind every day. And I knew that one day, I would contribute something, a little something to my community. But every day after refusing, women would tell me, "Look at you, you're all grown up. Your little sister has a baby. What about you?" That was the music that I was hearing every day, and that is the music that girls hear every day when they don't do something that the community needs them to do.
Odbila sam jer sam znala kamo idem. Znala sam što želim u životu. Kao djevojčica imala sam mnogo snova. Željela sam se dobro obrazovati, i pronaći neki dobar posao. Zamišljala sam se kao odvjetnicu, kako sjedim na ovoj velikoj stolici. To su bile maštarije koje su mi se vrtile po glavi svaki dan. I znala sam da ću jednoga dana pridonijeti nečemu, nekoj maloj stvari u mojoj zajednici. No svaki dan nakon mog odbijanja, žene bi mi govorile, "Pogledaj se, sva si već odrasla. Tvoja mlađa sestra ima bebu. Što je s tobom?" To je bila glazba koju sam slušala svaki dan, i koju svaki dan slušaju djevojke kada ne učine nešto što od njih zahtijeva zajednica.
When I compared the two stories between me and my sister, I said, "Why can't I do something? Why can't I change something that has happened for a long time in our community?"
Kada sam usporedila dvije priče moje sestre i mene, pitala sam se zašto ne mogu nešto učiniti. Zašto ne mogu promijeniti nešto što se već dugo vremena događa u našoj zajednici.
That was when I called other girls just like my sister, who have children, who have been in class but they have forgotten how to read and write. I said, "Come on, we can remind each other how to read and write again, how to hold the pen, how to read, to hold the book." It was a great time I had with them. Nor did I just learn a little about them, but they were able to tell me their personal stories, what they were facing every day as young mothers. That was when I was like, 'Why can't we take all these things that are happening to us and present them and tell our mothers, our traditional leaders, that these are the wrong things?" It was a scary thing to do, because these traditional leaders, they are already accustomed to the things that have been there for ages. A hard thing to change, but a good thing to try.
Tada sam pozvala druge djevojke koje, poput moje sestre, imaju djecu, koje su išle u školu, ali su zaboravile čitati i pisati. Rekla sam im "Hajde, možemo se zajedno podsjetiti kako čitati i pisati, kako držati olovku, kako držati knjigu." Naše zajedničko vrijeme je bilo sjajno. Nisam ih samo površno upoznala, već su mi one ispričale svoje osobne priče, kroz što su prolazile svaki dan kao mlade majke. Tada sam se upitala "Zašto ne možemo sve ove stvari koje nam se događaju podijeliti s našim majkama, s tradicionalnim vođama, da uvide koliko su to loše stvari." To nije bilo jednostavno, jer su ti tradicionalni vođe, već bili naviknuti na sve te stvari koje su se događale od pamtivijeka. Bilo je teško to promijeniti, ali je dobra stvar barem pokušati.
So we tried. It was very hard, but we pushed. And I'm here to say that in my community, it was the first community after girls pushed so hard to our traditional leader, and our leader stood up for us and said no girl has to be married before the age of 18. (Applause)
Pa smo probale. Bilo je vrlo teško, ali smo bile uporne. Sada sam ovdje da vam kažem za svoju zajednicu, koja je bila prva zajednica u kojoj se, nakon što su djevojke uporno gurale, naš vođa zauzeo za nas i rekao da se nijedna djevojka ne mora udati prije nego što navrši 18 godina. (Pljesak)
In my community, that was the first time a community, they had to call the bylaws, the first bylaw that protected girls in our community.
U mojoj zajednici, to je bilo prvi puta da su morali donijeti uredbu, prvu uredbu koja štiti djevojke u našoj zajednici.
We did not stop there. We forged ahead. We were determined to fight for girls not just in my community, but even in other communities. When the child marriage bill was being presented in February, we were there at the Parliament house. Every day, when the members of Parliament were entering, we were telling them, "Would you please support the bill?" And we don't have much technology like here, but we have our small phones. So we said, "Why can't we get their numbers and text them?" So we did that. It was a good thing. (Applause) So when the bill passed, we texted them back, "Thank you for supporting the bill." (Laughter) And when the bill was signed by the president, making it into law, it was a plus. Now, in Malawi, 18 is the legal marriage age, from 15 to 18. (Applause)
Nismo stale na tome. Gurale smo dalje. Bile smo odlučne u borbi za djevojke ne samo u mojoj zajednici, već i u drugim zajednicama. Kada se u veljači predstavljao prijedlog zakon o dječjem braku, bile smo ispred Parlamenta. Svaki dan, kada su članovi Parlamenta ulazili u zgradu, molile smo ih da podrže taj prijedlog zakon. Nemamo toliko tehnologije kao vi ovdje, ali imamo malene telefone. Pa nam je sinulo da bismo mogle saznati njihove brojeve i poslati im poruke. To smo i napravile. To je bilo dobro. (Pljesak) Kada je prijedlog zakon prošao, ponovo smo im poslale poruke, zahvaljujući im što su ga podržali. (Smijeh) Kada ga je potpisao predsjednik, i učinio ga zakonom, to je bila velika stvar. Sada je u Malaviju 18 legalna dob za brak, od 15 do 18 godina. (Pljesak)
It's a good thing to know that the bill passed, but let me tell you this: There are countries where 18 is the legal marriage age, but don't we hear cries of women and girls every day? Every day, girls' lives are being wasted away. This is high time for leaders to honor their commitment. In honoring this commitment, it means keeping girls' issues at heart every time. We don't have to be subjected as second, but they have to know that women, as we are in this room, we are not just women, we are not just girls, we are extraordinary. We can do more.
Dobro je znati da je zakon prošao, no reći ću vam ovo: postoje zemlje u kojima je 18 legalna dob za brak, no ne čujemo li vapaj žena i djevojaka svaki dan? Svaki dan trate se životi djevojaka. Krajnje je vrijeme da vođe poštuju svoju obavezu. Poštivanje te obaveze znači uvijek imati na umu probleme djevojaka. Ne treba nas se pokoravati kao drugorazredne osobe, nego trebaju znati da žene, poput nas u ovoj dvorani, nismo samo žene, samo djevojke, mi smo posebne. Možemo više.
And another thing for Malawi, and not just Malawi but other countries: The laws which are there, you know how a law is not a law until it is enforced? The law which has just recently passed and the laws that in other countries have been there, they need to be publicized at the local level, at the community level, where girls' issues are very striking. Girls face issues, difficult issues, at the community level every day. So if these young girls know that there are laws that protect them, they will be able to stand up and defend themselves because they will know that there is a law that protects them.
A druga stvar koja se tiče Malavija, i ne samo Malavija već i drugih zemalja: zakoni postoje, ali znate da zakon nije zakon dok se ne provodi. Zakon koji je tek nedavno prošao postojeći zakoni u drugim zemljama, moraju biti objavljeni na lokalnoj razini, na razini zajednice, gdje su problemi djevojaka frapantni. Djevojke se u svojim zajednicama suočavaju s teškim problemima svaki dan. Ako te mlade djevojke znaju da postoje zakoni koji ih štite, moći će se zauzeti za sebe i braniti se jer će znati da ih zakon štiti.
And another thing I would say is that girls' voices and women's voices are beautiful, they are there, but we cannot do this alone. Male advocates, they have to jump in, to step in and work together. It's a collective work. What we need is what girls elsewhere need: good education, and above all, not to marry whilst 11.
Još bih nadodala da su glasovi djevojaka i žena predivni, da postoje, ali same ne možemo mnogo učiniti. Muški pobornici moraju se angažirati, uskočiti i surađivati s nama. To je zajednički posao. Trebamo isto što i sve druge djevojke trebaju: dobro obrazovanje, i iznad svega, da se ne udamo s 11 godina.
And furthermore, I know that together, we can transform the legal, the cultural and political framework that denies girls of their rights. I am standing here today and declaring that we can end child marriage in a generation. This is the moment where a girl and a girl, and millions of girls worldwide, will be able to say, "I will marry when I want."
Nadalje, znam da zajedno možemo izmijeniti pravni, kulturni i politički okvir koji liši djevojke njihovih prava. Danas stojim ovdje i izjavljujem da možemo zaustaviti dječje brakove u jednoj generaciji. Ovo je trenutak kada će jedna, dvije i milijuni djevojaka diljem svijeta moći reći, "Udat ću se kada ja to želim."
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
Thank you. (Applause)
Hvala. (Pljesak)