The ManicaPost
IN 2016, the United Nations Children Education Fund reckoned that in East and Southern Africa, 37 percent of girls are married before the age of 18, translating to about seven million girls every year.
Out of the 20 countries with the highest prevalence of child marriages in the world, six are in Eastern and Southern Africa, with Zimbabwe being among the countries.
In Zimbabwe, child marriages were outlawed in 2016 through a historic Constitutional Court ruling after Ruvimbo Tsopodzi and Loveness Mudzuru appealed to the court to amend the Marriage Act. The Act used to say a child of 16 could get married with parental consent and this was outlawed as the age of marriage was set at 18.
Despite outlawing early child marriages, the country is still recording an increase in such cases, hence the birth of 18+ Project — Strengthening the Voices of Civil Society to End Child Marriage in Middle East, Eastern and Southern Africa is a step in the right direction.
The programme is being implemented by Simukai Child Protection Program with Plan International being the funding partner in Mutasa and Mutare districts of Manicaland with Plan International being the project funding partner.
Busi Ndlovu from Plan International in her presentation shared that according to recent statistics, the country recorded an increase in child marriages before the age of 15 from 4,9 percent in 2014 to 5,4 in 2019, while an increase in child marriages before the age of 18 increased from 32,8 percent in 2014 to 33,7 percent in 2019. (Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey
The country also recorded an increase of early child bearing before the age of 18 from 22,4 percent in 2014 to 24,1 percent in 2019, while one in 10 adolescent girls and four percent of boys aged between 15 and 19 years felt discriminated on grounds of marriage.
With the media being identified as a key stakeholder in ensuring that the public is well sensitised about the consequences of child marriages, Simukai with its funding partner, Plan International this week had a virtual workshop with media practitioners and government line ministries where the issue of child marriages took centre stage.
The eye-opening workshop was held on Tuesday the 4th of August, while a follow-up radio programme was broadcasted on Zimpapers’ commercial radio station, DiamondFM on Wednesday.
Highlights of the workshop:
On why engaging the media, Plan Zimbabwe Communications Specialist, Ms Sibusisiwe Ndlovu, said: The media is a key stakeholder in ensuring that the public is well sensitised about the consequences of child marriages.
Media development is a key communication for development approach.
According to Ms Ndlovu, key drivers to child marriage include poverty, limited access to education, religion and cultural practises, lack of sexual reproductive Health Rights information and peer pressure.
Traditional practices that promote child marriage include lobola, initiation rites and ceremonies, chiramu, chimutsa mapfiwa and kuripa ngozi.
International, Regional and Domestics Laws on Child Marriage
◆ Universal Declaration of Human Rights
◆ The Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women
◆ United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child
◆ African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
◆ SADC Protocol on Gender and Development
◆ SADDC Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriages and Protecting Children Already in Marriage
◆ Zimbabwe National Action Plan on Ending Child Marriages
◆ The Constitution of Zimbabwe.
◆ The Zimbabwe Marriages Bill
Advocacy to end child marriage
◆ In order to end the challenges presented by child marriages, it is necessary for different stakeholders to work together in advocating for the creation of a conducive environment where child marriage cannot thrive.
◆ There is a need for all stakeholders in the society to take measures to address the drivers of child marriages which include social, economic, cultural and religious factors that influence norms and behaviours at the individual, community and societal levels.
Recommendations
The success of Zimbabwe’s efforts to curb child marriages requires the collaboration of and between different stakeholders and the media. How?
- Strengthening of the media capacity to interpret and analyse different legal instruments.
- Development of Frameworks to improve media access to information.
- Research and content analysis.
- Incentives.
The project is working with
◆ Traditional figures of authority-collaboration with about leaders
◆ Important members of the community with formal and/or informal authority
◆ Young people- (10-18) years
◆ Indirect beneficiaries — the families of the young people, peers of the participants, communities of the TLs & young people and broader community through publications, broadcasts on television and radio reports
◆ The aim of the project is to empower young people and the traditional figures of authority to pursue the implementation of the law and where appropriate, to report cases where child marriage cases persist.
◆ The involvement of traditional leaders is an important element to ensure that national legislation is shared and applied within communities.
Bridget Zhou — 18+ Project Coordinator from Simukai stressed that we need to keep in mind that every child is entitled to all children’s rights no matter their religion or culture
◆ The right to an identity and documentation thereof
◆ Rights to education and health
◆ Protected against harmful social and cultural practices and sexual abuse
◆ Prohibition of Child marriages and betrothals
◆ Best interests principle
SADC Model law on eradicating child marriages
◆ set of legal standards on a specific issue, offered for the consideration of, and adoption by, national legislators as part of their national law
◆ potential to trigger law and/or policy reform on child marriage
◆ put the issue of child marriage on the agenda
◆ Requires countries to set the minimum age of marriage at 18, register all marriages and take effective action, including through legislation
◆ Prevention — birth registrations, education, SRHR, economic incentives
◆ Mitigation — public safety homes, strengthen community networks, training on child marriages
Marriages bill
◆ After years of protracted lobbying, the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs gazetted the Harmonised Marriages Bill on July 19 2019. The Bill seeks to consolidate the laws relating to marriage
◆ The Bill draws inspiration from key human rights instruments internationally and regionally, emphasising the best interests of the child principle and gender equality
◆ Clause 3 is commendable in outlawing child marriages and criminalising them
Engaging traditional leaders (TLs) through the 18+ Project
◆ TLs and religious leaders have been sensitised on the negative consequences of child marriages.
◆ They hold Quarterly meetings for TLs to share experiences, challenges and best practices in combating child marriages (CM) and early pregnancies. Traditional leaders have devised Action Plans on ending child marriages in their areas of jurisdiction including raising awareness and reporting cases.
◆ TLs have also spearheaded awareness campaigns in their communities and also participated in radio shows and road shows
◆ Chief Mutasa has demonstrated a lot of passion on ending child marriage has become a strong advocate both locally and regionally. He even won a Gender Champion award due to his active participation in issues of ending child marriages.
Child Marriages in Eastern and Southern Africa
Lazarus Mwale, the Plan International Regional Programme Manager on Ending Child Marriages in the region of Middle East and Southern Africa based in Zambia shared that Plan International started 18+ Programming initiative in 2016 at a regional level. He also sited opportunities to tackle child marriages even in the Covid 19 context as below:
◆ Strengthening the legal framework to effectively combat child marriage; budgetary allocation in relevant sectors i.e. Education, Health, Social protection mechanisms, economic empowerment for girls
◆ Traditional and Religious leaders must take lead in challenging harmful social norms and cultural practices that drive child marriage
◆ Children in particular Adolescent girls need to be empowered with information on sexuality (ASRH)
◆ Media & Civil Society should increase efforts to mobilise communities and advocate to end child marriage.
◆ The Private Sector to support government in strengthening social protection mechanisms.
Mr Mwale also shared the following with participants as sources of child marriage stories
◆ Communities (girls themselves affected /at risk of child marriage), traditional/religious leaders
◆ Child marriage law & policy review processes
◆ CSOs ( field visits, research reports, position papers, national/global campaigns)
◆ Government (budget allocations, adoption of regional policies i.e. SADC Model Law on child marriage
◆ Social media huddles (FB, Twitter) for key stakeholder especially CSOs
◆ Match days (International Day of the Girl Child etc.)
◆ Police, courts , clinics, schools ( teenage pregnancy records)
Role of the media IN ECM Issues
One of the journalists, Farai Matiashe shared that media has the power to influence the masses positively through the following:
- Raise awareness
- Influence on policy making
- Advocacy-advocating for the end to ECM
- Educating the mass on the impact of ECM
- Give the young girls a voice/space in the media
- Sharing possible solutions to eradicate ECM
He also recommended NGOs to
- Award/Incentives/Grants for journalists doing in depth ECM stories
- More workshops for capacity building on journalists covering ECM
- CSO to support media personnel with current data on issues to be published
During a radio session that followed the workshop, one former child bride, Ruvimbo Tsopodzi had the opportunity to share her heartbreaking experience as a child bride.
Her advocacy initiatives when she approached the Constitutional Court alongside Loveness Mudzuru with grievances against child marriages became instrumental in the Constitutional Court landmark judgement which won international recognition.
The judgement declared child marriages unconstitutional.
Ruvimbo had the opportunity to share her heart breaking experience as a child bride. She urged girls to concentrate on their books, bearing in mind that marriage will come later.
“Marriage is not an achievement when one is still a child.”
Plan International Project Influencing Expert — Ms Precious Babbage emphasised that parents and guardians need to desist from practising harmful social norms that violate children’s rights such as chucking a girl child away from home when she is seen walking with a boy , or on late arrival at home for an unexplained reason.
“There are many child marriage cases that we have come across in the field of operation, that have arisen from such scenario,” she said, adding that ending child marriages is everyone’s responsibility.
Child marriages is unconstitutional and it exacerbates the cycle of poverty in addition to violating children’s rights.
Cletus Mushanawani from The Manica Post encouraged dialogue and consistent collaboration between the media house and NGOs in reaching with messages to help communities such that of discouraging child marriages.
Clayton Masekesa: There is need for journalists to embark on solution journalism. Yes, we have known the causes of early child marriages, but now as the media we should focus on in-depth stories that bring change.
Bernard Chiketo: There is every need to align our marriage laws with the constitution.
Pamela Mutsaka: As the media, we need to highlight these issues as we have the ability to amplify the voices of girls and women whose rights have been violated.
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke: We also have a duty to protect the identity of the child at all cost. This might also mean not mentioning the perpetrator’s name because some readers can quickly draw the link between the perpetrator and the child.
Tendai Gukutikwa from The Manica Post said it is important that we give a voice to the voiceless.
Mr Rubaya from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Small and Medium Enterprise Development said the role of his ministry is to coordinate and enforce the implementation of the Zimbabwe National Action Plan to End Child Marriages.
Mr Herbert Marufu from the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services in his concluding remarks to the workshop urged all partners to join efforts in contributing to the realisation of children’s rights.
