Maputo — Cases of child marriage, which are related to high levels of poverty and Islamist terrorism in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, increased by 10 per cent in 2023 when compared to 2022, according to a study carried out by the international NGO Save the Children.
The study, carried out last year, in the Cabo Delgado districts of Palma and Chiúre, worked with minors from the Chiúre Children's Parliament, internally displaced people, host communities and those who have returned to their areas of origin after fleeing terrorist attacks.
According to Save The Children's child protection coordinator, Paula Timane, who presented the study, on Wednesday, in Maputo, "we are worried about the growing number of early pregnancies that we see every day in our schools, streets, neighborhoods, and also the number of school dropouts. More children are arriving from other districts as internally displaced persons.'
Timane explained that socio-economic issues are key factors that lead families to subject girls to child marriage. In other cases, the early pregnancies are the result of the involvement of two teenagers.
"In both districts there are reports of parents deciding to subject their daughters to forced marriage, claiming that they will be safer and more protected', she said.
For her part, the Canadian High Commissioner, Sara Nicholls, said that Mozambique has made significant progress with the approval of the Law to Prevent and Combat Child Marriages.
"The practice of child marriage continues to pose a significant threat to the well-being and future of thousands of girls across the country. Child marriages are a serious violation of girls' rights, as they prevent girls from reaching their full potential', said Nicholls.
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She added that child marriages are also harmful to girls' health, limiting their ability to contribute fully to the country's development.
The National Children's Director at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, Angélica Magaia, revealed that the study is part of one of the priorities identified in the prevention and progressive elimination of child marriage.
"It's important to create evidence so that we can feed into the programming framework, the plans and the strategies that the country is designing to combat child marriage. We know that Cabo Delgado is in a slightly different situation to the other provinces, as it is facing an emergency situation', she said.
According to Magaia, "it's important that we continue to sensitize families to the fact that the safest place to protect girls is their own family.'
