Break Free Alliance-FAWE

This programme proposal entitled “Break Free!” is an initiative of Plan International Netherlands, SRHR Africa Trust (SAT) and Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) in collaboration with the technical partners ‘The Royal Tropical Institute KIT’ and ‘Rozaria Memorial Trust’ (RMT). The aim of the “Break Free!” The consortium is for adolescents to exercise their right to live free from Teenage Pregnancy (TP) and Child Marriage (CM), is supported by civil society. The Break Free! The programme will be implemented in nine countries in Africa as well as at the regional and continental levels. There will also be a component in The Netherlands. The prevention of CM and TP is more urgent than ever, as the COVID-19 situation has dramatically changed the context in which adolescent girls live. Evidence from Plan International Gender Assessments have shown the impact of COVID-19 among adolescent girls, including increasing levels of gender-based violence; increasing unpaid care work arising from caring for the sick; rising sexual exploitation; exclusion from (online) education; and increasing rates of CM and TP. The digital gender divide has further isolated and excluded adolescent girls in remote areas from accessing information and health services, especially concerning contraception and other essential Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services. Lockdown restrictions and enforcement of COVID-19 prevention methods have led to an increase in sexual violence and Female Genital Mutilation/ Cutting (FGM/C), reducing the effectiveness of referral pathways for essential services, and resulting in poorer SRH outcomes for girls. The loss of employment and income by parents and caregivers is expected to increase girls’ vulnerability to sexual exploitation, resulting in TP and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), including HIV. This economic downturn will likely have a large impact on the poverty levels in low-income countries where CM is most prevalent. Because poverty is a key driver of child marriage, these economic impacts are anticipated to increase rates of CM and TP in vulnerable communities. At the same time, many girls have been kept from school and will never return, leaving them with few options other than CM and TP. Previously the total number of girls married each year has been estimated at 12 million1,2 and the number of girls aged 12-19 who give birth each year in developing countries at 12,1 million3,4. However, millions more cases of violence, CM, unintended pregnancy and FGM/C are expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic5 . At the same time, progress on the prevention of CM and TP is challenged by conservative forces who portray gender equality and women’s autonomy regarding their own body and sexuality as a threat to traditional and family values. Moreover, conservative forces and authoritarian governments are using the COVID-19 crisis as a pretext to limit civic freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression, thus restricting the civic space