By Mary Taruvinga
Rights groups have sounded the alarm over the slow pace in tackling child marriage in Southern Africa, warning that at the current rate, it could take two centuries before the abusive practice is eradicated.
At a high-level side event of the Southern Africa People’s Summit in Antsirabe, Madagascar, advocacy organisation Equality Now and its partners pressed regional leaders to take bold steps, insisting that child marriage is not only a violation of children’s rights but also a barrier to development, education, and gender equality.
“We need accelerated action to end child marriage and protect girls from sexual and gender-based violence and other effects of these harmful practices now, not 200 years later,” Equality Now declared, referencing UNICEF data showing the staggering timeline.
The gathering, titled “Strengthening Protection and Support Mechanisms for Survivors of Child Marriage”, drew 40 participants from seven SADC countries, including lawmakers, civil society, and international bodies. They tabled a comprehensive set of recommendations to SADC Heads of State and Government, meeting this week.
Among the proposals were harmonising laws across statutory, religious, and customary systems to enforce the minimum marriage age of 18 without exceptions, establishing an Anti-Child Marriage Fund to finance survivor protection programmes such as safe homes, counselling, and reintegration services and
Ensuring free healthcare, education, legal aid, and psychosocial support for survivors among other recommendations.
“These recommendations emphasise the need for political will, legal clarity, survivor-centred services, community ownership, and adequate funding,” the panel concluded.
Equality Now, which has been campaigning against child marriage since 1995, stressed that regional governments must urgently align with the SADC Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Maputo Protocol.
“By adopting and implementing these measures, SADC leaders can accelerate the eradication of child marriage, protect survivors, and uphold the rights and dignity of children across the region,” the organisation said.