Stories
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Thirteen-year-old Lydia Mwela from Zambia has observed too many girls in her community becoming pregnant, suffering gender-based violence and testing positive for HIV. She does not wish to end up in a similar situation herself. Through knowledge she is gaining at school, she has become empowered to make her own informed choices and create the future she dreams of for herself. She is learning about healthy relationships, good values, the human rights she is entitled to, and sexual and...
Engaging traditional leaders to end violence against women and girls and harmful practices in Africa
Monday, August 31, 2020
The Council of Traditional and Cultural leaders of Africa, in partnership with UN Women and UNFPA have kickstarted a webinar series which will be held between August and December 2020 as a component of COTLA’s advocacy and actions to advance gender equality in Africa and end sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices.
Giving girls a second chance at education in Zambia
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Violet is a child marriage survivor in Chama district of Muchinga Province and a beneficiary of “Reducing Child Marriage in Malawi and Zambia,” programme, which is funded by the India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) Facility for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation through the UN South-South Cooperation (UNSSC).
Zambia hosts the first steering committee meeting of the IBSA fund on ending child marriage
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Malawi and Zambia have a high prevalence of child marriage. Zambia has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world with 31% of women aged 20-24 years married by the age of 18. In Malawi, approximately 1 in 2 girls married by the age of 18 . One of the main challenges in ending child marriage is traditional and ingrained attitudes that makes the practice accepted across the society, while poverty is another major contributor behind child marriage.
Tanzania scores big in efforts to end child marriage
Monday, November 18, 2019
UN Women engaged more than 500 civil society organisations that attended the Civil Society Week in Dodoma in November 2019, to foster partnerships in the implementation of the Generation Equality Campaign in Tanzania. The awareness raising initiative coincided with the ongoing celebrations over Tanzania’s ruling to raise the age of marriage to 18 years by the Court of Appeal in October.
More Resources and Partnerships Essential to Ending Child Marriage and FGM
Monday, February 11, 2019
UN Women in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Zambia and the African Union Commission hosted an African head of states and traditional and cultural Leaders dialogue for renewal of commitment to end child marriage and FGM in Africa. The side event of the AU heads of state summit sought to secure and renew commitments of Heads of State and Government and Traditional and Cultural Leaders to embracing and incorporating transformational approaches that effectively address...
Traditional Leaders meet in Blantyre to address child marriage in Africa
Monday, November 5, 2018
UN Women’s Africa Strategic Plan has prioritized protecting the health and well-being of women and girls of Africa by supporting interventions that end Harmful Social Practices, particularly child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation. UN Women has made a strategic choice of placing the leadership and engagement of traditional authorities central to addressing the cultural norms and practices that promote child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation.
UN Women announces first Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa
Monday, February 5, 2018
Ahead of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) tomorrow, UN Women announced the appointment of renowned activist Jaha Dukureh of The Gambia as Regional Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. Ms. Dukureh will dedicate her efforts to support UN Women’s advocacy to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage in Africa, with focus on mobilizing youth.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Across Africa and globally, the prevalence of child marriage continues to be an issue of grave concern requiring urgent action. According to UNICEF, in sub-Saharan Africa alone, more than one third of young women are married by their 18th birthday. Furthermore, 9 out of the 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage are located in the African continent, specifically Niger, 75 per cent; Chad and Central African Republic, 68 per cent; Guinea,...
How I firmly said NO to an early and forced marriage
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
In the words of Martha Ntoipo, a 33-year-old Maasai activist from Tanzania. She works for the Pastoralist Information and Development Organization (PIDO), a community development organization which she founded in 2010, which works in the fields of health, women economic empowerment, gender equality and human rights, environmental conservation and research.
Q&A about the efforts of Kumbukani Mwanyongo to confront child marriage in Malawi
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Kumbukani Mwanyongo is 24 years old, unmarried, and an aspiring pharmacist from Malawi. She is also a member of the Malawi Girl Guides Association and a trained peer facilitator working to educate others about girls' rights. Globally, more than one in three young women aged 20-24 years were first married before they reached age 18.