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Roselyne Sachiti Features, Health & Society Editor
For decades, early child marriages have stuck out like a sore thumb in many African societies.

In the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, countries have had to face the sad reality of “curing” this scourge which has shredded the societal fabric.

In Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, issues ranging from gender inequality, poverty and insecurity have “pushed” girls on the marriage bed way too early.

A serious violation of girls’ human rights, early child marriages also strip them of their rights that include health care, education, the right to choose when and whom they marry, just to name a few.

SADC countries respond

In Zambia, traditional leadership has been playing a major role in reducing and hopefully ending child marriages.

Chieftainess Kawaza (Vainess Phiri) of Katete District, Eastern Province, has “traded” her royal robes to become a foot soldier working tirelessly to end child marriages and cattle herding.

At the sidelines of the just-ended International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, she told The Herald that Katete had some highest cases of child marriages in Zambia.

But, she adds, they have not been sitting and watching.

“The conversation with society started when I attended a workshop in Kitwe, Copperbelt,” said Chieftainess Kawaza. “At the workshop, I discovered that an assessment report mapped in my area showed a high prevalence of early child marriages.”

As a starting point, Chieftainess Kawaza upon returning home armed with new knowledge on the topic, took the lead and immediately set up committees in each village under her watch.

“We called our partners like UNFPA to sensitise and further train us,” she said. “We wanted society to understand the dangers of marrying off a girl before the age of 18. Most importantly, if traditional leaders speak to the people, they understand.”

Her role also came at a time the Zambian government was requesting traditional leaders to be the major stakeholders in fighting early child marriages.

“Government believed that if they did this with NGO partners only, the goal of ending child marriages will not be achieved,” she said. “Bringing in the traditional leaders who are the custodians of culture was important.

“At community gatherings, I also share my personal story explaining why I have the passion to see a girl child go back to school. I went back to school and completed my education after I already had children.

“I also explain the dangers of early marriages, and ask the girls how they feel when they do so early.”

The community responded positively and is now valuing the rights of the girl.

Results are starting to show.

So far, said Chieftainess Kawaza, 67 girls have been withdrawn from marriages and gone back to school, something that could not be achieved a few years back.

“I am contributing school fees and stationery towards the education of girls,” she said. “We ensure schools and parents are connected. We cannot know a girl has been married off. We engage teachers who alert us when a girl stops coming to school. We immediately make a follow-up.”

Chieftainess Kawaza has been advocating for lower school fees to ensure girls from underprivileged families do not drop out of school and forced to marry.

“For example, last year, I advocated for the government to reduce school fees.

“The Zambian government listened to us and this resulted in many other girls who had dropped out of school and going into early marriages continuing with their education.”

Chieftainess Kawaza encouraged traditional chiefs in the SADC region, especially those who have not started, to use Zambia as a case study towards ending child marriages.

“Whatever I am doing in Kawaza, royal highnesses in Katumba, Mbamumbe are doing the same.

“The plans are similar. We will not allow a girl below 18 years to be initiated, even a schoolgirl. As royal highnesses, we will only allow those 18 years and above and ready for marriage to be initiated.”

If a villager is found on the wrong side of the law, the subject is invited to the palace and punished.

The traditional punishment involves working, paying a fine or even staying at the chief’s palace for some time.

“Our subjects fear being invited to the palace for wrongdoing,” she said. “We do not want to punish them, but want them to implement policies that end child marriages and also work with us.

“Because if they do not come on board, I can talk and talk, if they have not accepted, it becomes a challenge.”

UNFPA Country Representative for Zambia Ms Gift Malunga said the country has rolled out a campaign to end early child marriages, further developing a five-year national strategy from 2016 to 2021.

“Coincidentally, Zambian President Edgar Lungu is the African Union champion for ending child marriages,”explains Ms Malunga. “The political will is already there.

“Because of his position and commitment together with his own government to end child marriages, the ministry of gender was tasked to come up with a national implementation plan.

“In 2017, a costed national implementation plan was put in place. The issue was to look at the key drivers of child marriages and one of the most pressing issues was poverty. When you have high poverty levels, unfortunately, the girl child is seen by some parents as a commodity. They believe if you marry off the girl child then they have some resources.”

While child marriage is a national development issue, there are regional variances were high prevalence rates are in rural areas, like the Eastern and Western provinces of Zambia.

The national average is 31 percent, while it sits on 40 percent in some provinces.

In urban areas, it could be as low as 19 percent, according to Ms Malunga.

She said some cultural issues that require a girl to be married off when she reaches menarche, the first occurrence of menstruation, contributed to early child marriages.

Because of limited education, some parents do not see the value of educating a girl child.

“When a girl is married off early, it means dropping out of school and early child marriages, pregnancies and the cycle of poverty continues,” added Ms Malunga

In Zambia, Ms Malunga added, they do not work alone, the problem requires a multi-sectoral and multi-partner response to address.

“We are working with other organisations within the national framework of the national strategy and the implementation plan that is already in place. From our end we are looking at issues of legislation and the policies that are not speaking to each other,” she noted.

“The available legislation and the customary laws do not speak to each other in terms of age of consent for marriage. We are looking at reviewing such policies supporting government to do that working together with parliamentarians.”

While the process is ongoing, they hope it will be tabled in the current session of Parliament.

“We are also looking at issues of keeping girls in school. We noticed from evidence that if girls remain in school, they delay childbirth and marriage,” revealed Ms Malunga. “When educated, they can look after themselves, families and, most importantly contribute to economic development.”

According to Ms Malunga, Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will not be achieved if the young girls are left behind.

“Zambia has a very progressive medium- term plan, The Seventh National Development Plan, which is supporting Vision 2030,” she said. “Zambia expects that by 2030 it will be a prosperous middle income country. That cannot be achieved if girls are left behind.”

Ms Malunga emphasised that education is not just academic, but also entails young people having the knowledge to access sexual and reproductive health information and services (SRHR).

“When they have accurate information about SRHR they know where to access services, can prevent HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancies,” she expounded.

“SRHR becomes a key component. Working together with agencies like UNICEF and UNESCO we are supporting age appropriate comprehensive sexuality education in schools, so that young people know about growing up, relationships and protecting themselves.”

Some sections of society have resisted this kind of education.

“We cannot blame them because they do not have correct information on what exactly young people are being taught,” said Ms Malunga.

“For Zambia, the Ministry of Education already has incorporated age appropriate comprehensive sexuality education in the curriculum as the government realised it is important for young people to get correct information as they are growing up.”

Ms Malunga believes SADC can do a lot as the region is just demarcated by boundaries.

“We are one people,” she emphasised. “That is why SADC and the AU needs to come together and speak with one voice about the issues of placing importance on the girl child. How do we empower the girl child? The AU is already ahead in terms of the Agenda 2063 and the demographic dividend.

“The missing link is the focus on empowering young girls. This is our entry point; it has multiplier effects for generations. SADC and AU should come together; the strategies are there. They need implementation and enforcement of policies they have put in place so young girls and women are empowered to take control of their lives, to be economically empowered.”

[email protected]; Twitter @RoselyneSachiti

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