COMMUNITY
Child marriage is a serious problem in Uganda. According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2016/2017, 25% of girls aged 15-19 were married before the age of 18. This means that nearly one in four girls in Uganda is married before she reaches her 18th birthday.
Uganda’s teenage pregnancy rate is one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, having stagnated at 25% in the last decade, recent data review of the District Health Information systems (DHIS11) by UNFPA revealed that the onset of the COVID 19 Pandemic brought with it increased rates of teenage pregnancies with up to over 50% increase in teenage pregnancy in some Districts (Naminsdwa in Bugisu Region, Armudat in Karamoja region and Kitagwenda in Tooro/Rwenzori Region). Country wide data revealed that there were over 31,565 teenage pregnancies being reported every month in 2021. In regard to Child marriage, Uganda has one of the highest rates in East Africa standing at 34% which puts Uganda at the 14th highest percentile rate among 25 countries surveyed in the world.
There are a number of factors that contribute to child marriage in Uganda. These include poverty, cultural beliefs, and lack of education for girls.
Poverty is a major driver of child marriage. Families who are struggling to make ends meet may see child marriage as a way to reduce their financial burden. They may believe that by marrying their daughter off, they will no longer have to provide for her.
Cultural beliefs also play a role in child marriage. In some cultures, it is seen as the norm for girls to marry young. Parents may believe that it is their duty to marry their daughters off as soon as possible.
Lack of education for girls is another factor that contributes to child marriage. Girls who do not go to school are more likely to be married off at a young age. This is because they are less likely to have the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions about their lives.
Although so many factors have contributed to high rates of child marriage, there are several efforts made to address this issue and these include;
- Raising awareness about the harmful effects of child marriage.
- Providing education and economic opportunities for girls.
- Working with communities to change cultural norms about child marriage.
- Enacting laws that make child marriage illegal.
“Child marriage is a human rights violation that robs girls of their childhood, their education, and their health. It is time to end this practice once and for all.”
- Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations
We can all play a role in ending child marriage in Uganda. If you are concerned about this issue, there are a number of things you can do:
Intentional Parenting, Intentional parenting is an approach where you use strategies to build a healthy parent-child relationship. A healthy parent-child relationship provides opportunities for you and your child to learn and practice social and emotional skills. Social and emotional skills are important because they are linked to significant positive outcomes throughout life. We need to change the narrative when it comes to parenting; a parent is the most important influence in a child’s life. So many children are being parented by maids, television, peers and the internet. This has posed a threat to efforts towards ending child marriage and teenage pregnancies. The girls end up copying what they see on television and from their peers. Where are our parents in all this? Parents are only present to rebuke but they are not present when the children need them. In order for us to curb the vices of early marriage and teenage pregnancy, there needs to be intentional parenting. How do you talk to your children? How often do you check in to find out how they are doing? Is your child able to talk to you in case something is happening to them?
Where are the men in all this? One would ask themselves. There is need to revive the role of a father in a home, the role of the father in a home is to provide and protect the home. Men today have neglected their roles as the fathers and priests of the home. They have given the responsibility of children to either the women in their lives (wife or mother) or left it to the community and school. Some have even shifted the responsibility to their own children. First born children are regarded as second parents to their siblings; they take care of their families like parents do. This is a burden to these children; their childhood is robbed because they are forced to mature faster than their friends. Fathers need to engage more in prevention and response to child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
Community sensitizations on the dangers of child marriage and teenage pregnancies, they say it takes a whole village to raise a child, this means that the role of the community in a child’s life cannot be ignored. The community also has a role to play in shaping the life of the child, if the community is not sensitized about the dangers of certain activities, they will not care to address it, however, there is need to develop and strengthen community systems for prevention of child marriages and teenage pregnancy. We need to strengthen community reporting and referral pathways on managing cases of child marriage and teenage pregnancies.
We should also mobilize and educate families, communities and political, religious, cultural leaders to coordinate campaigns and protect children from child marriages and teenage pregnancies. This can be done by identifying champions and role models as change agents to sensitize communities and young people on the value of girl’s education and dangers of child marriages and teenage pregnancies.
Empowering girls for broken men is an issue that needs to be rectified. There is need to involve and put up sensitizations for boys as well. Young boys need to learn how to advocate for and protect the rights of their fellow peers (girls). Boys too need to be taught how to treat girls and also understand them. They should be taught responsibility at a young stage so that they know how to handle situations when they grow older. If the young men are empowered they will be able to handle empowered girls.
There is need to improve the legal and policy environment to protect children from child marriage and teenage pregnancy. As a child grows up, they are surrounded by a system of protection right from home, their communities, government and international level. This means that these bodies set up laws to protect the child from any harm.
