Like so many children around the world, Haouaou's school closed as a result of the restrictive measures put in place to curb contamination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike the 76% of girls in her native, Niger, she was able to escape CHILD MARRIAGE...
Child marriage is a form of gender-based violence and a result and driver of gender inequality and discrimination. In West and Central Africa most marriages occur between a girl child and an adult.
Child marriage is problematic for several reasons: When a girl is forced into early marriage, she is likely to drop out of education, experience ongoing GBV from husband and in-laws, have early and more frequent pregnancies and increased risk of health impacts as well as reduced financial and personal independence.
Niger has the highest rate of child marriage in the world. Sierra Leone has the 18th highest rate of child marriage in the world, coupled by elevated rates of adolescent pregnancy, malnutrition, population growth–all contributors to child marriage.
Across West and Central Africa (WCA), the prevalence of child marriage is 41%, meaning that 4 out of 10 girls and young women, or nearly 60 million, were married before the age of 18. It is expected that, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, child marriages will rise add that an additional 450,000 more girls could be at risk of child marriage over the next five years as a result of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 in the region. Tradition is one of the driving forces behind child marriage, as seen in the cases of the two countries analysed in our Ending Child Marriage Budget Analysis: Ending Child Marriage in West Africa: Enhancing Policy Implementation and Budgeting. Our analysis assesses the progress on policy implementation and funding for ending child marriage (ECM) in Niger and Sierra Leone by researching the budget cycles of three Ending Child Marriage-related sector ministries in each country and monitoring the budget allocation of each.
Haouaou is not alone...
When I was younger, I didn’t go to school. My father sent me to live with his sister because she didn’t have a child. When I was there, I didn’t go to school either. We were in a village. When I got older, they initiated me into the secret society. So, I returned to my father as an adult. I was sixteen. A man saw me and said he wanted me. My father said I should marry the man before I sat down doing nothing and became pregnant without a father for the child. -Bintu 19, Sierra Leone
Ways to End Child Marriage In West Africa: Looking to Niger
Putting an end to child marriage, requires the highest level of Government ownership and coordination with multi sectorial ministries, communities, influential leaders, partners and children.
Aligning budget allocations to political commitments on legal and policy changes including changing the age of marriage to 18 is critical.
Despite encouraging signs of political commitment from the government of Niger, the Ministry of the Promotion of Women and Protection of Children, which is the lead ministry to end child marriage, has never reached 1% of the total government budget.
Ways to End Child Marriage In West Africa: Looking to Sierra Leone
Higher levels of transparency and citizen participation in the whole budget process are important. This alongside addressing technical challenges to ECM costing and budget execution
Amplify children's voices in the formulation of ECM related policies (including education and reproductive health). Grant youth-led and child initiatives more space in the budget process so they can voice their concerns and influence ECM policy orientation.
In Sierra Leone, the government developed the National Strategy for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy and Child Marriage (2018- 2022) as the national policy orientation for addressing ECM and set up a President SGBV Taskforce. The First Lady of Sierra Leone also launched a national campaign to combat SGBV and Child Marriage called "Hands off our Girls Campaign"
