Malawi: Marriage: No Child's Play

What - a 5 year programme (2016-2020) to reduce child marriage and its adverse effects on young women and girls. Where - India, Pakistan, Malawi, Niger and Mali. The prevalence of child marriage is high in all of these countries. Niger has the highest rate of child marriage in the world. Every 3 in 4 girls marry before their 18th birthday (76%), whereas India has the highest number of child brides in the world. More than 10 million women aged 20 to 24 years old are married before the age of 15. Within countries, we will aim to target geographic “hotspots” with high proportions and numbers of girls at risk of child marriage. This includes rural and hard to reach communities. With Whom - Working closely together as an alliance with in-country governmental and non-governmental partners, the four alliance members, Save the Children the Netherlands, Oxfam Novib, Simavi and Population Council, will coordinate with other Dutch, international (UNICEF and UNFPA) and national programmes aimed at reducing child marriage and collaborate with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign affairs and its embassies. Where possible, we will align our advocacy work with Girls not Brides. theory of Change and strategies - The MTBA will work in countries where child marriage prevalence is an important impediment to achieving adolescent wellbeing. The two crucial components of the Theory of Change that we will apply in each country include girls’ empowerment and changing harmful customs, traditions, norms and practices. To ensure structural cross-sectoral prevention and response towards girls at risk of early marriage and already married, we will strengthen child protection systems in countries where this is opportune. We will advocate for the development or amendment of laws, policies and/or action plans and the implementation thereof. (language: English)