Campaign to end early marriage in Sierra Leone launched

The Campaign to end early marriage in Sierra Leone has been officially launched by His Excellency the Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr. Victor Bockarie Foh, at the Sierra Leone Bank Complex, Kingtom, on 17 august 2016, after a special statement by the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma who is also the patron of the campaign.

The launch of this campaign correlates with World Vision International’s Global Campaign to end all forms of violence and abuse against children—including early marriage which is one of  the commonest forms of child right violations in Sierra Leone.

Early marriage occurs when one or both parties are below the ages of 18. But realistically, in Sierra Leone, though boys get married before they are 18, girls are disproportionately affected.

Lilian Dodzo, World Vision Sierra Leone’s Interim National Director had this to say about child marriage: “Child marriage has gained increasing prominence on international and national development agendas. Today, we have a unique opportunity to act on this momentum and accelerate our efforts to help change the lives of girls and young women all over the world.  Ending child marriage requires work across all sectors and at all levels. It requires us to understand the complex drivers behind the practice in different contexts and adapt our interventions accordingly, and World Vision Sierra Leone is taking a lead, in partnership with Government and other strategic partners to address this”.

The launch attracted cabinet Ministers and other functionaries of Government—including parliamentarians, judiciary and law enforcement bodies, diplomats. Other Non-governmental  development partners and members of the fourth estate also witnessed.Children representing the four regions-including Western Area, Freetown, also witnessed the launch.

The campaign is being championed by the African Union in collaboration with the office of the First Lady, Sierra Leone's Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs and other development partners— including World Vision. The overall coordination  of this campaign rests with the office of the First Lady.

According to Ambassador Mustapha Kalokoh, Commissioner African Union, Sierra Leone is ranked 15th  among countries with high prevalence of early and forced marriage in the world, and is the 15th  country that has launched the campaign out of 30 priority countries of the African Union.

Making her statement at the launch event, the first lady says, …child marriage is considered one of the world’s gross child  violations as stipulated in Article 16: 2 of the universal declaration of human rights.’’

Representing the children of Sierra Leone during the launch, Isata from Kambia district (pictured below, first from right) says,

‘’…We are an asset of the nation, not a liability. Force us to be educated and not to be married. Parents are one major perpetrators in our lives. ‘It is you parents that give us away to be married. Act as our parents and not as enemies. Don’t abandon us because we don’t want to get married. Don’t send us to the streets. We don’t want that. Nobody wants to be in the streets.’’

Giving a scenario of the world’s position on early marriage, Mrs. Koroma states, ‘’globally, 700 million women were married before the age of 18, more than one in three enter the union before 15. In Africa, 123 million women and girls were married before 18. It is estimated that by 2050, Africa will have the highest number of child brides in the world.’’

 In Sierra Leone, UNICEF studies suggest that  over 10 per cent of girls are married before age 15. And over 30 per cent are married before age 18. This number is alarming and It calls for action from the government, development partners, parents and communities in Sierra Leone.’’

This forms the rationale for supporting a robust campaign against the practice in Sierra Leone in particular.

This continental campaign by the AU to end early marriage in Africa was launched on May 29 2014.The campaign in Sierra Leone is themed: end child marriage for sustainable development.

Prior to the launch in Sierra Leone, a Girls Summit was organized with a view to amplifying children's voices on the issue and proffering solutions for tackling such harmful practice. The Summit was divided into four regions, each region coordinated by a child-focused organization—including World Vision, among others.

Western Area  as coordinated by Save the children; Eastern Region coordinated by UNWOMEN,  Northern region coordinated by Plan International and southern Region coordinated by World Vision.

Sixty-one children from  within World Vision’s operational areas in the southern region made their voice heard  during the girls summit to end child marriage in Bo. These children came from Bo, Bonthe Moyamba and Pujehun Districts, representing their peers.

Children passed on their singular message to end early and forced marriage through various media like skit, group discussions and debate, poems, art gallery and songs. All of these messages were put into a single position paper whose main aim is to influence policies and laws with regards early marriage.

 The submission by children during consultation formed the crux of the engagement as it not only highlights the problems associated with early marriage, but it also proffers solutions for tackling the issues of early and forced marriage of children.

Children had their personal views on early marriage which are not unconnected with the general effects of the practice.

Francis, 17-year-old boy from Pujehun  District  says: ‘’early marriage has an adverse effect on our sisters, which is why we boys see it important to be a part of the process. I would be there when my sister’s hand will be asked in marriage. I have a choice to say no. With the knowledge I have now, I believe my views will be heard.’’

‘’With  all what we have put into writing here, we are sure to have positive results if only stakeholders— paramount  Chiefs, Council chairmen corporate with World Vision and other partners,’’ he adds.

Like 15-year-old Jeneba from within World Vision’s  Bumpeh Area Development Programme put it during a skit to bring out children’s message to stakeholders, ‘’education is the only husband that does not divorce a woman.’’  

For Jeneba, education is very crucial to a girl’s success and must be prioritized instead of early and forced marriage which does a lot of harm to girls .

‘’I wish above everything else, that girls like me are educated,’’ she further laments.

After fruitful consultations with the children in Bo, the children agreed to send two of their peers, Josephine and Watta (both from Bo) who represented them from the south.At a breakfast meeting with the first lady to consolidate all findings fro the various regions, Josephine thrilled the high table with her submission.

World Vision Sierra Leone’s Operations Director, Mattia Dimoh pledged World Vision’s commitment to this cause. ‘’World Vision is committed to ending all forms of violations and violence against children in all its manifestations and entirety,’’ he says after consultations with children in Bo.