Last Friday at the Young Women Christian Association Hall in Freetown, Save the Children International (SCI) together with her partners concluded a two day child summit in order to end child marriage in the country.
The programme which is championed by the European Union was described by the Child Protection Officer (CPO) of SCI, Mustakim Conteh, as a mini summit which was organised in order to get children from various parts of the country to brainstorm on the issue of child marriage, how it is affecting them, who the perpetrators are and what they as children wants the government to do.
“People don’t take note of child marriage here but when you go to the provinces it is really on the increase. It has become an issue as it leads to teenage pregnancy and infant mortality. So the government and it development partners thought it fit to put an end to it”, he explained.
The CPO went on to say that the government of Sierra Leone as well as the development partners are determined to ensure that their goal of ending child marriage by 2030 comes to reality.
“There have been so many campaigns on child marriage but this one looks unique because you see the government is showing commitments and has taken the lead. As International Nongovernmental Organisations (INGOs), we will ensure monitoring of the process and government’s engagement.”
Loma Conteh is the Senior Social Services Officer at the Ministry of Social Welfare and she is attached to the Children’s Directorate. Speaking on the importance of the summit, she said “other countries have taken action on the campaign against child marriage and now it is our turn to do so to end child marriage”.
She went on to say that the government is taking ownership of this campaign. Every Sierra Leonean, she furthered, should play their part to ensure that child marriage ends. “We do girl summit because it is the girls that fall victim and they enter into these marriages without them knowing it. It is for the girls to have their say in what is affecting them. We involved boys so that they will know it’s wrong”.
Loma said if the girls keep getting married at an early stage, the 30% quota which women in the country are calling for will be reduced.
Communities such as Kroobay, Macdonald, Murray town, Dworzack, New England Ville among others were present at the summit.
One of the participants was 15 years old Mariama S. Jalloh, a senior secondary school pupil of St. Joseph’s Convent in Freetown. She told this medium that she was happy to be part of the summit as she has been motivated by the testimonies of her peers who have experienced child marriage.
Mariama pledged her commitment to advice peers about child marriage and to assist them in reporting child marriage cases in her community. She said she now knows her rights and responsibility. “My responsibility is to respect my elders, abstain from sex and be a good girl.”
Plan International, World Vision and UN Women, among others are partnering with Save the Children to implement this campaign.
By Edna Smalle
Tuesday August 16, 2016
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