Ending Child Marriages in Chekucheku
Malawi | Neno Shifters Organisation (NeSo) | 2024
Moni!
We are the Neno Shifters Organisation (NeSO), a team of 16 passionate young changemakers who transformed from an informal group in 2021 into a youth-led powerhouse fighting to end child marriage and promote girls’ education in Neno. Since 2022, we’ve been running a long-term campaign, mobilizing our community to break cycles of harm and build a future where every girl can thrive. Our mission? To provide vocational skills and leadership solutions for accelerated socio-economic advancement
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18 to 28 years old
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The Right-Sized Problem
In T/A Chekucheku, child marriage has been deeply rooted in tradition and poverty. Girls as young as 13 were being married off—some through initiation ceremonies like Chinamwali—with little resistance. Police reports were rare, powerful perpetrators went unchecked, and support for girls in school was nearly nonexistent.
But that changed when NeSO stepped in.
What did we do?
From informal beginnings to structured transformation, we built a powerful, multi-layered strategy focused on community engagement, youth leadership, and policy advocacy.
Offline Impact
🏫 Peer Education in Schools – Trained student leaders to raise awareness among peers about the risks of child marriage.
🗣️ Dialogue Sessions with chiefs, parents, and teachers, stressing the long-term harms of child marriage.
⚽ Football & Netball Bonanzas – Brought the community together to talk child protection through sport.
🎓 Awarded Top Students & Donated School Materials – Celebrated academic success and gave tangible support to keep girls in school.
💼 Training & Capacity Building – NeSO Shifters received hands-on skills in advocacy, proposal writing, drone technology, safeguarding, fraud prevention, and more.
🏛️ Policy Advocacy – Worked with traditional leaders to change cultural policies, including minimum age for initiation ceremonies (now 18+ and not during school terms).
Online & Media Impact
📱 Social Media Posts – Shared updates and campaign messages online.
👕 Print Media – Used T-shirts, banners, and cardboards to increase visibility.
Explore Our Campaign Content
Campaign Impact
18,090 people reached through community activities
74,407 reached online
11,000 reached through physical campaign materials
2 girls brought back to school
New local partnerships with government departments and NGOs
Local leaders who were once uninvolved now champion the fight against child marriage
Child marriages dropped by 90% in Donda and nearby villages
From 1 T/A to 3 T/As reached across Neno
One of our proudest achievements was transforming NeSO from an informal group into a formal youth-led organization, complete with policies, laptops, business skills, and partnerships with government and civil society.
In 2021, 3 in every 10 marriages in Donda were child marriages. In 2023, it dropped to 1 in 10. One mother shared:
“BEFORE NESO, WE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THE HARM. NOW, WE KNOW THAT SENDING OUR GIRLS TO SCHOOL IS THE BEST CHOICE WE CAN MAKE FOR THEIR FUTURE.”
What’s Next?
We’re scaling up our movement by:
📌 Registering as an official NGO
📌 Expanding to more traditional authorities across Neno
📌 Building a digital presence (website + media)
📌 Developing proposals and partnerships for long-term sustainability
Follow our journey:
📍 Facebook: NeSO Facebook
