Workshop To Raise Awareness Of The Fight Against Child Marriage

On Saturday, December 16th, the Salama Foundation, in collaboration with the Umoja Islamic Imara association, organised a workshop aimed at raising awareness about combating child marriages involving minors. This critical issue was chosen to primarily educate parents and all those involved in child upbringing.

In Burundi, marriage below the legal age is a fundamental violation of human rights. Several factors contribute to exposing children to the risk of early marriage, including poverty, the perception that marriage provides "protection," family honour, social norms, customary law or religious laws that tolerate this practice, inadequate legal frameworks, and the state of the civil registration system. Although this practice is more common among girls, it constitutes a violation of rights regardless of gender.

During the workshop, numerous contributions were made, with each speaker highlighting the risks and consequences of early marriage. They emphasised that this practice deprives girls of their rights to health, education, and opportunities for personal development, subjecting them to a lifetime of violence and perpetuating a cycle of poverty. This campaign was launched with the aim of putting an end to early marriages and empowering parents to take a leading role in defending and promoting the human rights of girls and women. This includes effective monitoring, financing, and implementation of measures to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, particularly by emphasising the goal of ending all harmful practices such as child, early, and forced marriages.

In order to address this scourge, participants were able to express their opinions and propose some appropriate solutions, including:

- Establishing a legal minimum age for marriage, uniform for boys and girls, without exception.

- Strengthening civil registration (births and marriages), health, and education systems.

- Ensuring that all girls and women enjoy sexual and reproductive health and rights, property rights, and access to justice, among others.

It is worth noting that this workshop achieved its objectives by sensitising more than 800 parents.