“End Forced Marriage”
This campaign is on going | Neno, Malawi | Neno Shifters | 2022
We’re Neno, a group of 15 self-mobilised youth operating as an arm of the Community Action for Sustainable Development Organization (CASDO). We are comprised of secondary school and out of school youth aged between 16-25 years based in a rural setting of Neno with minimal exposure to technology and social media platforms.
The Right-Sized Problem
Child marriage has long been a norm where we’re from. Many children in Donda Village, particularly girls, don’t know that they have the right to delay it and so many end up dropping out of school early . Ending child marriage can’t be taken on by young girls alone – it takes a whole community to help out.
What did we do?
We are engaging with the community traditional leaders who are the customary law custodians to create new community dialogues that denounce child marriages.
We want to start with chiefs to set an example for the rest of the village by encouraging and awarding those who declare an end to child marriage and commit strict measurements for parents who force it onto their child. We have a list of ideas to get more people talking about this: community dialogues, after-school skill development programs, football competitions, music, video documentaries, radio programs and more!
We are also engaging our peers by being part of the school's open days where through school management, we are given space and time to hold a conversation with students to encourage them to stay in school and at the same time to raise awareness about their rights.
How did we do it?
Impact on students in Ntcheu community
With our campaign, many community members have now become aware that child marriage – something most parents had previously thought was part of coming of age – is a violation of young people’s rights.
By reaching out to students, we’ve helped girls from dropping out of school to get married and empowering both adolescent girls and boys to be confident in themselves and speak up against child marriages.
Words from Neno Shifters
“With our campaign, many community members have now become aware that forced marriage – something most parents had previously thought was part of coming of age – is a violation of young people’s rights. By reaching out to students, we’ve helped girls from dropping out of school and empowering both adolescent girls and boys to be confident in themselves and speak up against forced marriages within their community.”
