The African Union 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.
The first phase of the campaign focused on raising awareness and building momentum for the campaign, while the second phase focuses on accelerating the end of child marriage in Africa. The second phase includes the development of a continental strategy to end child marriage, the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation framework, and the implementation of targeted interventions in countries with high prevalence rates of child marriage. The African Union has in the last ten years, also registered progress in the reduction of these harmful traditional practices as a result of a vital member state and stakeholder commitments in the form of legislative reforms and financial and technical resources allocation to drive affirmative actions at all levels.
In addition, as an incentive to these member state and partner efforts and to provide physical strategic advocacy, consultative, peer learning and roadmap formulation space, the African Union has convened together with member states 3 African Girls Summits since 2015:
Key to the success of these continental consultative meetings was the presence and engagement of girls, boys and women in shaping discussions about them, voicing their perspectives, aspirations and expectations from the leaders and stakeholders in attendance, and committing to end harmful traditional practices.
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
To achieve these objectives, the campaign has implemented various strategies, including:
- Advocacy: The campaign has engaged in advocacy efforts to raise awareness of the negative impact of child marriage on girls and women in Africa
- Capacity building: The campaign has facilitated technical assistance and capacity building to support the implementation of legal and policy actions in the protection and promotion of human rights
- Monitoring and evaluation: The campaign has implemented monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track progress and identify areas for improvement
The African Union’ key normative frameworks define the campaign to end child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), and other harmful practices in Africa. Here is a list of some of these frameworks:
This framework was developed in 2022 and aims to hold African Union member states accountable for eliminating harmful practices, including FGM.
This protocol is an African Union legal instrument that seeks to promote and protect the rights of women in Africa, including the elimination of harmful practices such as FGM and child marriage.
This is a strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of Africa over the next 50 years. It includes a priority (6.1.2) to eliminate within this generation “all harmful social norms and customary practices against women and girls and those that promote violence”
This committee is a specialized body of the African Union responsible for promoting and protecting the rights of children in Africa, including the elimination of harmful practices such as FGM and child marriage.
The SDGs include a target (5.3) to eliminate all harmful practices, such as child marriage and FGM, by 2030
This charter includes an article (article 8) that calls for the elimination of child marriage and other harmful practices affecting women and girls.
This protocol includes an article (article 8) that calls for the elimination of child marriage and other harmful practices affecting women and girls.
This convention is an international framework adopted to end child marriage and harmful practices.
This convention is an international framework adopted to end child marriage and harmful practices