Friends against child marriage
The story of teenage girls determined to prevent forced marriage in Niger
They were friends from childhood. They played and went to school together. The girls shared the same hobbies and gossips in town. But fate had reserved different paths for each one.
In the village of Groumdji, in the Maradi region, the girls in the village know about child marriage. Most are afraid of it. Some have no choice to decide. But the union between young girls with influential personalities within the community is changing the tradition.
Olabisi, 17, and Aminata, 18, decided not to abandon their lifelong friend. A young man in the village had asked for her hand and her family had accepted. Everything was arranged to carry out the marriage of the 17-year-old girl.
"When our friend found out that her family had accepted her marriage, she felt so sad. She was traumatized. She even stopped eating and lost weight” affirmed her friends.
'We talked to her, we told her to object by all means. But we know that tradition does not allow us to be against the will of our parents or guardians. It is an injustice, some girls run away from home or commit suicide to avoid a forced marriage' the girls explain.
The day before marriage, ceremonies between families were ready. The bride and the family agreement would do the rest. Everything was prepared except the will of the young girl and her two faithful friends.
Her friends alerted the Child Protection Committee, supported by UNICEF in the Maradi region. They asked for help from the village chief and committee members of her friend's unwanted marriage. A different future for the young woman was about to give her a new chance.
After a process of negotiation and sensitization with the parents of the young woman, her father agreed to finally refuse the marriage. The marriage will have to wait for some years.
'Next time, it will be her who decides how, when, and with whom' her friends say.
´Marriage must be the result of reciprocal love, a mutual understanding between the couple. The first step is to learn a subject or a displacing at school and then work to earn some money. That will help to have a good family life, " says Aminata.
Olabisi and Aminata are part of a movement of young girls united against child marriage in Niger. They are also members of the UNICEF-supported Child Protection Committee of their village in Maradi. Their role is to sensitize the other girls who are out-of-school and are at risk of being married as minors.
The Child Protection Committees are typically made up of 10–20 people, most of whom volunteers. Most committees included women and men, and some included a smaller number of children, typically one to three teenagers.
The functions of the groups are mainly to raise awareness about risks to children’s protection and wellbeing, mobilize communities to respond to and prevent those risks, monitor child protection risks, help to develop local solutions to problems, or organize psychosocial support for affected children
All girls and boys have the right to a childhood where they can play, rest and be protected from harm, abuse and exploitation. But for thousands of children in Niger, childhood is cut short by marriage. UNICEF estimates that around 3 in 4 young girls were married before the age of 18, and 1 in 4 before the age of 15.
Putting an end to child marriage is a focus of UNICEF’s work in Niger. Working with communities, families, governments and partners, UNICEF, with the support of the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage, helps identify and address the social norms and economic and structural factors that contribute to the persistence of child marriage.
The Global Programme promotes the rights of adolescent girls to avert marriage and pregnancy and enables them to achieve their aspirations through education and alternative pathways. It supports households in demonstrating positive attitudes, empowers girls to direct their own futures, and strengthens the services that allow them to do so. It also addresses the underlying conditions that sustain child marriage, advocating for laws and policies that protect girls' rights while highlighting the importance of using robust data to inform such policies.
The Global Programme is generously supported by the Governments of Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and the European Union, as well as Zonta International.
