Achievements of 2016
Moudouthe said 2016 had seen global, regional and national achievements in preventing child marriages.
“Globally, we have seen the movement to end child marriage grow significantly. GNB grew to become a global partnership made up of over 650 organizations from more than 85 countries. This means there are more organizations committed and working to address child marriage and enabling girls to fulfil their potential,” she said.
Regionally, the African Union has launched a campaign to end child marriage. In 2016, it covered eight countries - Ghana, Eritrea, The Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Liberia. So far, the campaign has been rolled out in 18 countries.
Also, the Southern African Development Community has adopted the first Model Law on Child Marriage in the region to address inconsistencies and gaps in national laws which allow child marriage. “This move will require member states to harmonize their national laws to prevent child marriages,” Moudouthe said.
Nationally, she said, Zambia, Mozambique and Chad have shown great commitment to ending child marriage by developing national strategies. Besides, there has been strong grassroots activism, resulting in changes to the legal age of marriage.
“For example, in January 2016, two former child brides from Zimbabwe won a Supreme Court case to make child marriage illegal and unconstitutional,” Moudouthe pointed out. “In Tanzania, a petition led by the social organization Mischana Initiative resulted in the High Court of Tanzania raising the minimum age of marriage to 18.” What would be the strategy for 2017? “Making sure national and regional commitments turn into actions,” Moudouthe said. “This means supporting our members to help implement national strategies aimed at ending child marriage in countries where they [the strategies] have been developed, advocating for fully resourced and funded national strategies where they do not yet exist, and working with members and donors to ensure effective solutions are scaled up.”
The work of social organizations would continue to be critical as “they are the ones who work on the frontlines with girls facing the devastating consequences of child marriage.”
(Reporting from Malawi and Kenya)