Early marriages haunt Zambia
Published On May 28, 2015 » 3538 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » Features
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By JOWIT SALUSEKI? –
TEEN marriages have continued to haunt Zambia, which has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world with 42 per cent.
Women aged between 20-24 years are married by the age of 18, a rate that has not evolved since 2002.
The rates of child marriage vary from one region to another, and are at their highest in the country’s Eastern region, based on statistics from surveys.
According to research, girls who are affected by poverty, lack of education and longstanding traditional practices that discriminate against girls and women are most vulnerable to child marriage.
What many parents especially those in rural areas don’t know is that child marriage is a violation of human rights whether it happens to a girl or a boy, and it represents one of the prevalent forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.
The harmful consequences include separation from family and friends, lack of freedom to interact with peers and participate in community activities, and decreased opportunities for education.
Child marriage can result in bonded labour or enslavement, commercial sexual exploitation and violence against the victims.
Early marriage is often the product of gender discrimination that values the survival, development, protection and participation of boys more highly than that of girls.
For instance, the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) recently indicated in a survey that 65 per cent of women aged 20-24 had no education and 58 per cent with primary education were married or in union at age 18, compared to only 17 per cent of women with secondary education or higher.
Against this backdrop, many stakeholders such as Non Governmental Organisation Coordinating Committee (NGOCC) and Women for Change (WFC) have proposed the Government to increase and establish the age of 21 years as the minimum age of marriage for girls.
NGOCC chairperson Sarah Longwe argues that the age at which girls should be married off should be increased to end child marriages in Zambia.
She observes that by increasing the marriage age to 21 years, a girl child would by then have completed her tertiary education.
Similar sentiments were also expressed by the Women for Change, an NGO that spearheads the advancement of issues to do with women in the country.
Gender Minister Nkandu Luo says the Government is currently receiving views from stakeholders to determine the possible adjustment of the age marriage for girls in Zambia.
Prof Luo observed that in the recent past, there has been no official marriage age in Zambia, a situation which has caused many girls to end up being married off at a very tender age.
“The ministry is receiving views and comments from different?organizations on the enactment of the marriage age to be introduced and considered in parliament. The proposal by NGOCC and WfC is welcome,” she said.
The minister said countries which have introduced the official?marriage age for girls have managed to end early marriage cases.
She said increasing the marriage age among girls in Zambia will help them acquire higher education.
Recently, the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs (MoCTA) with support from other Government line ministries, cooperating partners, and civil society embarked on a nationwide campaign to end child marriages in Zambia.
The first of the planned provincial-based campaigns took place in Luangeni Village in Chief Mpezeni’s chiefdom?in Eastern Province.
As earlier outlined, Eastern Province was chosen because it has the highest rate of girls married off before the age of 18 years at 50 percent, according to the Democratic  Health survey (DHS, 2007).
The national launch was led by former First Lady Dr Christine Kaseba and included home visitations to couples affected by child marriages.
A total of seven homes were visited and UNICEF deputy executive director, Geeta Rao Gupta was one of the dignitaries that participated in the home visitations and the launch events.
Testament to the many cases of child marriages which was discovered during the tour of Eastern Province was that of Joachim Banda 18, who was bonded in marriage to Mildred Sakala aged 16.
“I can assure you this was not a forced marriage even though we did not plan to get married. I damaged her (impregnated her) and that is when I decided to marry her and this is why we both stopped school to look after our baby,” said Banda.
Joachim and his wife Mildred with their baby Salome Banda live in Luangeni Village.
They opened up about their life stories after the team leader from the provincial child development section of the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, Josephine?Phiri, briefed them about the nature of the visits and that they were opportunities for senior Government officials to learn “first hand” about child marriages.
When the couple was married, Mildred was in grade give and Joachim was in grade seven.
Because they were both out of school now, the chances that baby Salome will be able to attend school herself remain bleak because of  poverty.?However, Joachim and Mildred expressed interest in going back to school though they were challenged with how they would do that with their parenting responsibilities. He explained that he tries to make a living by engaging in piece work.
In 2013, the Government of Zambia launched a nation-wide campaign to end child marriage, spearheaded by the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs, to draw attention to the harmful impact of child marriage and to encourage communities to delay marriage of their daughters.
The campaign has since been followed by a symposium on child marriage which brought together key stakeholders – including various Ministries, traditional leaders, civil society organisations, youth, media and UN agencies – to explore ways to end child marriage in Zambia.
The Government of Zambia is vigorously taking steps to put child marriage at the forefront of the regional and international agenda.
In September 2013, Zambia co-sponsored with Canada the first UN General Assembly resolution on child, early and forced marriage.
The two countries also co-sponsored another resolution on the issue at the UN General Assembly’s 69th session in 2014.
The programme to end child marriages in the country, especially in rural areas was also amplified last year when retired  South African archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mable Van Orange visited Zambia for a conference held in Lusaka from September 15-18, 2014 ,to discuss and empower programmes to end under-age marriages among girls.
It is hoped that the proposal by stakeholders for the State to?increase the marriage age to 21 years would be supported to enable girls to complete their education and contribute?to the development of the country.

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