Government of Sierra Leone, UNICEF and UNFPA Launch Phase Three of the Global Programme to End Child Marriage

Freetown, 11 October 2024 – In partnership with the Government of Sierra Leone, phase three of the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage was launched on Thursday, 10 October, by the Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Dr Isata Mahoi in Freetown.

This programme empowers marginalized adolescent girls to delay marriage and pregnancy, make informed choices about their education, sexuality, and future, and pursue their aspirations through safe spaces and life skills sessions. It fosters a supportive environment by engaging families, communities, service providers, and national systems, including positive parenting, male and community leader involvement, Sexual and Reproductive Health services, and Gender Based Violence information systems. It is supported by the Governments of Belgium, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, the European Union through the Spotlight Initiative, and Zonta International.

“As we move into phase three of this programme, we will seek to leverage Social Protection systems including social safety nets and youth empowerment to reduce child marriage and adolescent pregnancy in Sierra Leone,” said Rudolf Schwenk, UNICEF Representative in Sierra Leone.

“Child marriage robs children of their rights, impacts their health and wellbeing, and limits their educational and economic opportunities – perpetuating a cycle of poverty and hindering national development” said Nadia Rasheed, UNFPA Representative in Sierra Leone. “We will prioritize gender transformative approaches and community engagement, partnership and advocacy to empower girls and address harmful gender and social norms that drive child marriage.”

Partnerships with the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs; Ministry of Social Welfare; Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education; Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Health; National Secretariat for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy and Child Marriage; and the Office of the First Lady have contributed to the following programme interventions and results:

• 54,000 marginalized girls engaged in life skills programmes since 2020.
• Positive Parenting Education Programmes reaching 20,000 parents since 2022
• 37,000 men and boys engaged in discussions on harmful gender norms and masculinities
• Established Sexual Reproductive Health service points for Adolescent friendly services in hard-to-reach communities
• Support for launch of Gender-Based Violence Information Management System plus (GBVIMS+) – first time system was implemented in non-humanitarian setting, government-led context. System captures child marriage within GBV framework
• Advocacy for Enabling Policies and Legislation, including through the “Hands Off Our Girls” Campaign led by the First Lady
• Development and implementation of key national strategies including the National Strategy for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy and Child Marriage
• Development of a Cash Plus model to leverage social protection programs in preventing child marriage and adolescent pregnancy

“The launch of this programme is a pivotal milestone to end Child Marriage in Sierra Leone and we cannot stand idly by while one in three girls in the country are being forced to get married,” said Dr Isata Mahoi, Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs. “We have made some progress in this fight with the introduction of the Child Marriage Act which criminalizes Child Marriage; and this is a testament to our commitment to end problem.”

As a further demonstration of the Government of Sierra Leone’s commitment to end Child Marriage, the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Conrad Sackey and the Minister of Social Welfare, Melrose Karminty also participated at the launch of the programme.

The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage was first launched in 2016 to tackle Child Marriage in 12 of the most high-prevalence or high-burden countries including Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.