Girls Empowerment Network (Genet) and Plan Malawi on Friday took their campaign to end child marriages to Chambe Village in Mulanje in commemoration of International Women’s Day.
The campaign has been dubbed 18-plus.
Plan Malawi Project Officer for 18-plus, Alinikisa Mphongolo, said child marriages are rampant in Mulanje, especially Chambe Village.
“Mulanje is Plan Malawi’s catchment area and in our previous projects, we noted that child marriages are on the increase. Approximately 80 percent of girls in Chambe and surrounding villages get married before the age of 18 due to harmful traditional practices, peer pressure and poverty,” Mphongolo said.
Mphongolo said the two organisations took advantage of the International Women’s Day to spread the message on the dangers of early marriage.
“Most families in the area do not have farming land and as a result, most parents force their children into early marriages as a way of easing the financial burden on the family; so we thought it wise to have a project specifically tackling the issue of child marriage,” Mphongolo said.
Minister of Civic Education, Culture and Community Development, Patricia Kaliati said the girl-child needs to be encouraged to stay in school.
“These are the children of Malawi, we need to protect them and develop them. When they are educated, they are going to make a good family and a good nation. For this to happen, we need to break the roots which are harmful cultural practices,” Kaliati said.
Kaliati warned parents who marry off their children.
“Whoever is marrying off their daughter before the age of 18 years will be arrested. We will work with all the necessary stakeholders to help us in implementing this plan. We want to be number one in eliminating child marriages here in Mulanje,” she said.
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