Freetown, 10 October 2024 – The Government of Sierra Leone in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has on 10 October 2024 launched phase three of the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage.  The programme is aimed at strengthening efforts to end child marriage in Sierra Leone, where one in three girls are married before the age of 18. 

Officially launched by the Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Dr Isata Mahoi, the programme is designed to empower 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 through positive parenting, male and community leaders involvement, sexual and reproductive health services, and roll-out of gender-based violence information management systems.

 “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.” 

“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.  “These interventions, combined with ongoing life skills education, positive parenting, and community engagement, could ensure every girl in Sierra Leone unshackles the burden of deprivation and realizes their potential.”

Partnerships with the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Ministry of Health; the National Secretariat for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy and Child Marriage, the Office of the First Lady and other partners 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.
• 5,000 girls in hard-to-reach communities supported to enroll and remain in school.37,000 men and boys engaged in discussions on harmful gender norms and masculinities.
• Sexual and reproductive health service points established for adolescent friendly services in hard-to-reach communities.
• Support for the launch of the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System plus (GBVIMS+), representing the first time the system was implemented by a government and in a non-humanitarian setting.
• Advocacy for enabling policies and legislation, including through partnerships with 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 in the launch of the programme. The Ministers were joined by Ms. Saskia Goldman, the Human Development Counsellor at the British High Commission, who spoke at the launch. 

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. It is supported by the Governments of Belgium, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the European Union through the Spotlight Initiative, and Zonta International.