Chief Saidou Kabore ousts child marriage from his community

“If we had three or four young women from the village in the civil service, our village would be more developed. Women would care about our well-being more than men. This is my vision of girls’ empowerment,” says Saidou Noom Kaboré, community leader in Bagma, some 20 kilometers south the Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou.

The 65-year-old man has always worked to ensure that girls from his village go as far as possible in school. For several years, he has been resolutely committed to end child marriage, a scourge that could prevent his community from thriving.

Chief Kaboré is on crusade against child marriage

Whenever he has the opportunity, the charismatic community leader brings men, women, boys and girls together under the palaver tree in the middle of the village to discuss girls’ education, which he easily contrasts with child marriage.

“My wish is that our girls succeed because the success of a girl, of a woman, benefits her entire community. That’s why nowadays no girl at school age stays at home. We support them as best we can after they enroll in school,” says Kaboré, standing in the middle of the circle.

At the audience in awe Chief Kaboré explains how to protect girls up to the age of 18 and even beyond, for them to have a happy marriage.

“A girl should not be given into marriage early, much less by force. Even if she is old enough to get married, she should not be given into marriage against her will. Girls are sometimes forced to marry old men. We must let the young girl choose her husband. Thus, her marriage will be filled with love and happiness,” he explains. 

In Burkina Faso, the efforts of the government, civil society, communities and community leaders like Kabore have yielded good results. From 2015 to 2021, the proportion of women aged 20 to 24 married before turning 18 fell from 51.3% to 38.2% and that of women aged 20 to 24 who married before the age of 15, fell from 8.9% to 7.8%.

Chief Kaboré works with the NGO Voix Des Femmes [in English, Women’s Voices], thanks to funds from the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage. The programme was launched in 2016 in 12 of the most high-prevalence or high-burden countries, including Burkina Faso. It promotes the rights of adolescent girls to avert marriage and pregnancy and enables them to achieve their aspirations through education and alternative pathways.

In Chief Kaboré’s village, everyone, girls and boys alike, understand the risks of child marriage and the consequences that result from it. Veronique Nikiema, a 14-year-old girl, is keen on her studies and believes that getting married before majority means jeopardizing your future.

“In my opinion, early marriage has many negative consequences. You can't do long studies. At this age, you are not able to carry a pregnancy, nor take good care of yourself, or a baby. You will no longer be able to obtain a degree that will allow you to have a good job,” she explains. 

Chief Kaboré’s success is recognized outside Burkina Faso

Saidou Noom Kaboré has saved many girls from child marriage, and his success is known beyond the borders of Burkina Faso. In 2019, Nafissa Ouedraogo fled neighboring Cote d’Ivoire to Bagma to escape child marriage, knowing that Chef Kaboré, who is also her uncle, would protect her.

“I was 14 when I was introduced to a 42-year-old man who already had two wives. I refused his advances. My parents therefore decided to forcefully marry me to this man they had chosen,” says Nafissa, now 19 years old.

When Nafissa's parents went to the village of Bagma to bring her back to Cote d’Ivoire, Kaboré made made them aware of the dangers of child marriage. Later, the man who tried to marry Nafissa was prosecuted for child enticement and sent to jail.

Kaboré's message is heard and assimilated by members of the community and relayed by the young people. For Thomas Kaboré, a young man of 30, thanks to awareness raising, no one will agree to give their daughter into early or forced marriage.

“Some of our aunts and older sisters fled forced marriage. They no longer speak with their families and have never come back to the village. Their children won’t know their maternal families,” he complains.

With UNICEF’s support, Nafissa Ouedraogo followed training sessions and strated her own business, a very popular one with young girls in the village.

“The NGO Voix Des Femmes helped me get started with saponification. I produced and sold liquid soap. I wasn't making huge profits. So, I gave it up and learned how to do henna tattooing,” she says.

Building on his succes, Saidou Kaboré will continue his fight against child marriage. He wants the girls of Bagma to complete their higher education, have university degrees and contribute to building the Burkina Faso of tomorrow.