Dutch Princess is working tirelessly to put an end to child marriage around the world

A lot of privileged people often try to help those in need every chance they get. However, out of all the millions of rich and influential people that exist in the world, only a handful make it their life's mission to right a societal wrong. One such inspiration is Princess Mabel Van Oranje of the Dutch royal family, who is doing everything she can to the best of her capabilities to make life better for others living in society. In a recent interview with Good Good Good, she gave people some much-needed insights into what she does to help abolish child marriages in society.

The Princess was already living quite a successful career as a human rights activist before she married into the Royal Dutch family. Ever since, her activism has only grown. When she recently attended a wedding in 2018, she saw the newly married couple taking donations for charity instead of gifts from the attendees. She said, "It made me realize that we could combine these moments of celebration and the power of the wedding industry to address the urgent issue of child marriage." Shortly after that, she founded a nonprofit organization called VOW for Girls which strives to abolish child marriages around the world and empower girls by providing them with better economic as well as educational opportunities.

She then went on to explain how the nonprofit worked. She said that VOW for Girls starts by inviting couples about to get married or planning to get married to set up a charitable wedding registry. The organization also attempts to get donations for their campaigns and efforts to promote girls' rights. She adds that 100% of the amounts collected by these campaigns go to grassroots communities in Africa, Latin America and Asia, all of which are striving hard towards ending child marriage.

She then further explains that most of these grassroots organizations are spearheaded by women as well as young girls who have been victims of child marriages themselves. She adds, "They provide vital services, education, health and resources, as well as helping girls realize their potential." In the five years that this organization has been in existence, there have been over 8,000 couples who have chosen to accept donations for this initiative at their wedding. The direct impact of this has allowed over 260,000 girls to educate themselves as well as have access to better healthcare. All in all, these donations have allowed these girls to be ready for whatever life may throw at them.

As she expresses her awe for the work this organization has been able to do, she gives a lot of thanks to its grantee organization, whose achievements she cited. One such organization was the Mariposa DR Foundation in the Dominican Republic, which strives to combat generational poverty by uplifting people through education. She also talked about her Center for Girls, where they'd aimed to ensure that every girl made it to eighth grade, to say the least. Now that it had happened, she was ecstatic.

She said, "This is the type of progress and success that we are seeing around the world. It gives me endless hope that we can create a world where girls can be girls, not brides." Talking about the many women out there like Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg who are working so hard and incessantly to improve the lives girls live, she said, "These young women are boldly taking a stand and changing their communities." She further added and concluded on a high note by saying, "Slowly but surely, we are watching the status of women change, and with each success, other girls are inspired to take a stand in their community."