AU Campaign to End Child Marriage | AUCECMA.ORG – End Child Marriage in Africa!

The AU Campaign to End Child Marriage

The African Union Campaign to End Child Marriage was launched on May 29, 2014, to promote, protect, and advocating for the rights of women and girls in Africa. The campaign is based on advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, and the facilitation of technical assistance and capacity building. The campaign has two phases: the first phase ran from 2014 to 2017, and the second phase from 2018 to 2023. Read More

Mission

To accelerate the end of child marriage in Africa by enhancing continental awareness of the effects of child marriage

Vision

To create a society where girls and women are free from all forms of discrimination and violence and enjoy their rights and full potential

Objectives

Accelerate the end of child marriage in Africa
Promote the effective implementation of AU legal and policy instruments with a bearing on young people/adolescents, especially the Girl-child, promoting the fulfilment of their human rights
Mobilize continental awareness of the negative socio-economic impact of child marriage. Read More

DATA ON THE PREVALENCE OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN AFRICA

According to UNICEF, child marriage remains a significant problem in Africa, with millions of girls affected. Here are some critical data on the status of child marriage in Africa, highlighting countries with the highest levels and major causes:

Over 50 million girls and women alive today were married before their 18th birthdays, and nearly 650 million girls and women of all ages were first married or in union before age 18
Eastern and Southern Africa have a child marriage prevalence rate of 32%, while West and Central Africa have the highest prevalence rate in the world, with nearly 60 million child brides
The average prevalence of child marriage across West and Central Africa is about 41%, and the prevalence of child marriage below the age of 15 years is also very high at 14% for the region
The largest share of child brides in Eastern and Southern Africa is in Ethiopia, while in West and Central Africa, the largest share is in Nigeria
Poverty and living in a rural areas are more strongly associated with child marriage globally, and this holds true in West and Central Africa, where child marriage is more than twice as common in rural areas as compared to urban areas.

Beyond poverty and the rural settings, other major causes of child marriage in Africa include gender inequality, lack of education, and harmful traditional practices such as FGM.

Capacity Building sessions of key stakeholders on Ending Harmful practices with Support from the Spotlight Initiative through UNICEF and UNFPA:

A total of 96 media professionals from 33 West, Central, Northern and Southern Africa member states were trained in person in two separate sessions, in July 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya and August 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on sensitive reporting on harmful practices and using their position of agency to end harmful practices. As a result, a knowledge network and directory of these media contacts was formulated for their further engagement in AUC activities. Reports for the 2 trainings can be found here: East and Southern Africa Media Training, West, North and Central Africa Media report.

The Second International Conference on FGM. From October 9-11^TH , over 500 high-level and frontline delegates met at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Center in Daree Salaam, Tanzania for the Second International Conference on FGM. The theme of the Spotlight Initiative (UNICEF & UNFPA) and government of the United Republic of Tanzania supported event was “Change in Generation “and two outcome documents emerged from the conference. One document was compiled by youths, outlining a roadmap to end FGM before 2030. The FGM conference outcome document can be found here.

Enhancing Peer to Peer learning through effective Knowledge Management and Critical Guidance Documents for member states

AUC launches a child participation platform: On Saturday, 3rd June 2023, the AUC launched its Child Participation Platform, an interactive space designed to empower children and young people, enabling them to share their experiences, practices, and knowledge. By harnessing evidence from programs, this platform seeks to accelerate efforts to put an end to child marriage and FGM, two harmful practices that adversely affect children’s lives.The child participation platform launch report can be found here.

The AUC Campaign to End Child Marriage guidance strategies on Knowledge Management and Advocacy

In 2023, with support from the Spotlight Initiative, the AUC compiled draft guidance documents on Advocacy and Knowledge management which are geared at providing evidenced approaches that member states can effectively adapt and contextualize for their effective implementation of the Campaign to End Child Marriage. The draft knowledge Management Strategy can be found here; the advocacy strategy found here.