By Sylvia Ruambo - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Community Manager and Ambassador of WWO
Child Marriage Free World is a global campaign aimed at ending child marriage, community by community. Initiated by 100Million, the campaign seeks to empower children, adults, and entire communities to understand the negative impacts of child marriage and take a pledge to eliminate it. Inspired by a pledging action that began in India in 2021—where over 50 million children, parents, teachers, and local leaders pledged to end child marriage—the movement is now expanding worldwide.
Every year, millions of children, mostly girls, are forced into marriage. This denies them their right to education, affects their health and childhood, and robs them of their future. Girls in child marriages are below the legal age of consent, which means they are sexually abused and raped. It is also a form of child labor, as girls assume full responsibilities as wives. When they become pregnant, their bodies are often not mature enough to cope with childbirth, putting their lives and their babies’ lives at serious risk.
In Tanzania, Dr. Sylvia Ruambo played a key role in advancing the campaign. She translated campaign materials into Swahili, customizing them to fit the Tanzanian context to ensure effective outreach and engagement. She also led extensive awareness and sensitization efforts across various platforms.
She toured 5 media houses to amplify the campaign’s message, visited communities which directly engaged 2,000 out-of-school children and over 1,500 parents and school visits in Bagamoyo, reaching 165 teachers and more than 3,000 students, raising awareness on child marriage, its causes, prevalence, and impacts.
Participants recommended in increasing awareness in rural areas with high child marriage prevalence, engaging religious leaders to challenge harmful social norms and advocate for change, and ensure strict enforcement of laws. They also urge the Government to speed up the process of reforming the Law of Marriage Act (1971), by amending the problematic sections, specifically Article 13(1), Permits males to marry at 18 and females at 15, Article 17(1), Allows marriage with parental consent and Article 17(2): Enables marriage upon court approval. Delays provide loopholes for perpetrators to continue the harmful practice of child marriage.
As part of the Global Pledging Week, participants raised their hands and read a collective statement pledging to end child marriage in their communities.
The campaign culminated with the conclusion of the 16 Days of Activism and the commemoration of International Human Rights Day 2024.
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