Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: A Focus on Zambia

 Of the 20 countries with the highest child marriage prevalence in the world, 15 of them are in Africa. The CSW62 Side Event, Accelerating efforts to eliminate FGM and child, early, and forced marriage by 2030, provided an opportunity for member states to renew their commitment and share best practices to eliminating child marriage in Africa by 2030.

Child marriage is a practice that limits choices, limits futures, and limits the lives of millions of girls worldwide. Mr. Omar Abdi, UNICEF’s Executive Deputy Director, reminds us that this practice undermines our commitment to gender equality, blocking our progress towards a better, fairer world envisioned by the SDGs. Progress, however, is possible. Adbi cites examples from India and Ethiopia, two countries that have seen dramatic declines in child marriage in the last 10 years. He urges us to drive these numbers down even further, stating that “we must learn from countries that have achieved progress and scale up initiatives that work”.

Zambia is an example of one of those countries. Mrs. Inonge Wina, Vice President of Zambia, shares that the “belief in child marriage is embedded in the psyche of the community – the parents that marry the girl and the girl herself”. These deeply embedded patriarchal norms pervade through national, community, and individual levels and will continue to be a key blockage for actualizing a transformative reality for women and girls across Africa. The mere enactment of laws, Wina states, is meaningless unless supported by other factors like creating an enabling environment for social change, and fostering strategic partnerships.

This is precisely what the Government of Zambia has aimed to do. Established in 2013, a consortium of government ministries, civil society organizations, traditional leaders, school authorities, religious leaders, and children have been assembled to lead the charge on eradicating child marriage. Together, these groups ensure effective policy development and establish accountability mechanisms. They also design nationwide campaigns on ending child marriage, intentionally involving traditional leaders who can facilitate positive change in prevailing attitudes and understanding of customs.

Zambia’s approach to ending child marriage demonstrates a commitment to move beyond policy. They recognize that to end the practice of early, forced child marriage by 2030, an acceleration of efforts need to be made on all levels of society. By involving all stakeholders and addressing the issue from the ground up, Zambia is shedding light on child marriage as a political, social, and cultural issue.