The UN agency responsible for children, UNICEF, has warned that if progress is not accelerated ending child marriage in West and Central Africa will take more than 100 years.
A new report released on Monday 23 October 2017, titled “Achieving a future without child marriage: Focus on West and Central Africa”, reveals that, due to the rapid population growth and high prevalence of child marriage, even if the current decline rate was doubled, it would not suffice to reduce the annual number of girls who marry young.
According to UNICEF statistics, Sierra Leone has 39% of girls who are married before their 18th birthday. However, the child marriage rate has constantly declined from 56% in 2006 to 48% in 2008 and now 39%.
While the prevalence of child marriage in West and Central Africa has declined over the past two decades, progress has been uneven, and still four in 10 women are married before the age of 18 and, of these, one in three before the age of 15.
UNFPA stated that child marriage in Sierra Leone is linked to poverty, lack of education and geographical area. A new report released recently by the Purposeful Productions explored the very real ways in which cultural fear of girls’ sexuality as policed by society creates a direct pathway to marriage. “Sexuality and gender are central concerns of early and child marriage. Yet these issues have been sidelined,” the report adds.
The longer a girl stays in school, the less likely she is to be married before the age of 18 and have children during her teenage years.
The Child Rights Act prohibits marriage under the age of 18, regardless of whether the marriage is carried out under formal, customary or religious laws. However, the 2007 Customary Marriage Act allows parents or local government officials to consent to a child’s marriage.
Because of these contradictions the Law Reform Commission is currently reviewing these laws, which the LRC Secretary, Maynard Timbo, referred to as gaps. “We have decided to come up with one law – the age of 18 years – and anybody who falls foul of that law will be taken to court. We noticed that child marriage is rampant, and the other important aspect is on medical grounds for the child.”
The government is currently implementing “Let Girls be Girls, Not Mothers” campaign, which is a two-year strategy for the reduction of teenage pregnancy. The country was also chosen to be one of twelve countries selected to be part of UNFPA and UNICEF’s Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage.
“We cannot continue to let so many of our girls miss out on their health, education, and childhood,” said Fatoumata Ndiaye, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, in a press release, adding, “At current rates, our report shows, it will take over 100 years to eliminate child marriage in the region – how is that acceptable?”
ZJ/25/10/17
By Zainab Joaque
Thursday October 26, 2017.
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