Malawi traditional leader orders chiefs to dissolve lockdown child marriages : Thompson Reuters / Doreen Lobo
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Malawi traditional leader orders chiefs to dissolve lockdown child marriages
ByCharles Pensulo
news.trust.org
3 min
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A senior traditional leader in Malawi has ordered village chiefs to dissolve all the child marriages that took place during the country's coronavirus lockdown so girls can return to classes when schools start reopening next month.
"We've been going in the villages advising people... to take care of the children so that they can return to school when they reopen because that's where the children's future is," Kachindamoto told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"I removed some chiefs before for the same reason, so chiefs know the consequences of not adhering to my directive," she added.
In the case of girls who got pregnant during the COVID-19 lockdown, Kachindamoto said she had told local chiefs to encourage them to go back to school after they give birth.
Malawi passed a law banning child marriage in 2015 and raising the minimum age to 18, but it remains widespread.
Almost 47% of girls in Malawi are married before they turn 18 and 9% become child brides before their 15th birthday, according to the U.N. children's agency UNICEF.
"We've been going in the villages advising people... to take care of the children so that they can return to school when they reopen because that's where the children's future is," Kachindamoto told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"I removed some chiefs before for the same reason, so chiefs know the consequences of not adhering to my directive," she added.
In the case of girls who got pregnant during the COVID-19 lockdown, Kachindamoto said she had told local chiefs to encourage them to go back to school after they give birth.
Malawi passed a law banning child marriage in 2015 and raising the minimum age to 18, but it remains widespread.
Almost 47% of girls in Malawi are married before they turn 18 and 9% become child brides before their 15th birthday, according to the U.N. children's agency UNICEF.