Bangladesh

Real lives

Bangladeshi adolescents advocate against early marriage

When Eti came to the Reading Centre in her village one afternoon, her friends noticed immediately that she was upset. Asked what was troubling her, the 13 year-old explained that her parents had arranged for her to be married soon, but she was totally against the idea – she wanted to continue her schooling, which would be impossible if she were married. Her friends decided to persuade Eti’s parents to drop their plans for her marriage.

“We met Eti’s parents,” her friend Mili later recalled. “And we explained to them that she was not yet fully grown up and if a girl under 18 is married she runs a greater risk of death due to pregnancy. We also explained that it is a punishable offence to marry off a young girl without her consent. And if they, as educated parents, didn’t understand these matters, who else would?”

To Eti’s relief, her parents were not offended by this bold action by her friends, but listened carefully to what they had to say. Eti’s parents changed their plans for her marriage and informed her that she could continue at the Reading Centre after school.

Only a couple of years ago, it would have been almost impossible to imagine such an event happening in Eti’s village in Rajshahi region, Bangladesh. Teenage girls lacked not only the knowledge, but also the self-confidence and negotiating skills to protect one of their friends from an under-age marriage. Such arrangements were traditionally decided by parents, the girls themselves had no say. 

A quiet but profound transformation is now taking place in the knowledge, attitudes, social skills and self-confidence of a large group of adolescent girls, not only in Eti’s village but also in more than 6,000 other villages in Bangladesh.

Empowering adolescent girls

This real life story comes from Bangladesh, where UNICEF supports the Adolescent Peer Organized Network (APON), designed and implemented by one of the country’s leading non-governmental organizations, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC).

This project addresses the particular problems and needs of adolescent girls, who are often unaware of matters related to sexuality and reproductive health. For this purpose, Reading Centres have been created where adolescent girls can acquire knowledge and life skills that enable them to make informed choices and to develop their leadership potential. Started in 1998-99 in 25 regions, there are now 6,500 such centres in the country, reaching 200,000 adolescents, mainly girls.

The objectives of the Reading Centres are to empower girls through education and skills development, provision of employment opportunities and through increased awareness of sexual and reproductive health and gender issues. This is critical to reduce young women’s vulnerability and risk to HIV infection as well as unwanted and early pregnancies. 

Adolescent girls – not adult teachers – are trained as peer educators. Some 5,000 unmarried young women have already been trained. As these peer educators receive a salary for their work, they have become valued income-earners in their families and the pressure on them to marry early has decreased. 

The girls also bring home information and skills that have helped to increase their status in their homes. While parents are often distrustful of initiatives aimed at educating young women and girls on sexual and reproductive health, the APON project has been successful in involving them and getting their support.