Mozambique Chimoio hosts the Sub-Regional Conference on Ending Child Marriage
Mozambique is in 10th place in the world among the countries most affected by premature marriage, according to data related to the proportion of girls aged 20-24 who married as children, i.e. before 18 years of age. Most of these marriages are in fact unions, rather than legally registered marriages, but are usually formalized through customary procedures such as paying the lobolo to the girl's family. According to data from the 2011 Demographic and Health Survey (IDS), 48% of girls aged 20-24 were married before 18 and 14% before the age of 15. Mozambique is still lagging behind in its efforts to prevent and combat this phenomenon, with a higher prevalence of premature marriages than other southern and eastern African countries, lagging behind Malawi.[1]
Child marriage is a one of the worst forms of sexual harassment and exploitation of girls by men. At present, the legal age for marriage in Mozambique is still not set at 18 years old without exceptions. A Child Marriage bill was passed by Parliament in July 2019, after intensive lobbying by a coalition of Civil Society Organizations. Unfortunately this bill is waiting to be signed into law by the President of Mozambique.
The Conference highlights will include the re-launching of a The SmartGirl App and Child Helpline 116 (Linha Fala Crianca) to respond province in the central part of the country. The conference will offer meaningful opportunities to engage with children to raise their voice and effectively participate in finding a lasting solution to child marriage issue. Child parliament delegates several districts in Manica province, and some girls rescued from early and forced marriages, and civil society representatives, government officials will be among the keynote speakers.
The Conference is strategically taking place in a region where Mozambique experienced one of its worst natural disasters in its history, Cyclone Idai in March 2019. On the other, the Mozambican Parliament has signed the Bill that criminalizes Child Marriage in July 2019. The bill hasn’t been ratified into law pending the HE President Filipe Nyusi’s signature. GCR in partnership with SCI are implementing two disaster response projects in Sussundenga and Mossurize districts which were heavily affected by the cyclone. GCR commissioned a study recently in Sussundenga district on access to SRH information and services. It was found out that Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) and SGBV rates have significantly increased in the aftermaths of the cyclone.
Conference Objectives:
1.
Leverage action to empower girls to raise their voice and advocate against Child Forced and Early Marriage.
2. Feature Mozambique Roadmap on the Child Marriage and SGBV.
3. Build a forum to urge for the President’s signature to pass the Child Marriage Bill into Law
4.
Demonstrate how digital technologies can aid in both reaching, engaging and the monitoring the protection of the rights of vulnerable girls and youth particularly prone to SGBV and Child Early and Forced Marriage.
5. Raise donor’s awareness to increase funding to protect girls in disaster prone and affected areas.
Activity Highlights for the conference
· Country presentation on the main benchmarks and commitments in addressing Child Early and Forced Marriage
· Signature of a Pledge to Action to End Child Early and Forced Marriage
· Develop an Action plan to prevent and respond to Child Early and Forced Marriage (Chimoio Action Plan).
· Launch the SmartGirl USSD platform, Child Helpline.
· Promote debate between child parliamentarians, government and other stakeholders on CM
· A public march to end Child Early and Forced Marriage
