Areas of Implementation: NATIONAL LEVEL
Period: TWO YEARS
Introduction
Uganda has one of the highest child marriage prevalence rates in the world at 40% (UNICEF 2016). Nearly one in every two girls is married before their 18th birthday. Child Marriage violates the rights of women and girls to education, economic opportunities, sexual and reproductive health, personal security and bodily integrity, freedom from torture, cruel, inhumane treatment: and life; as well as the state’s obligation to protect, respect and fulfill these rights. Addressing child marriage is a global call to all states and sectors as articulated in International and Regional Human Rights laws. It’s against this back ground that Joy for Children-Uganda is implementing a project on ‘Enhancing Collaboration and Legal Action to End Harmful Practices (Child Marriage) in Uganda’ funded by AmplifyChange through Equality Now.
Project Objectives
- To support change in laws and policies to end child marriage by petitioning the Uganda Parliament through the Speaker to deliberate upon and pass the Marriage Bill 2017.
- To increase public discourse on harmful consequences of child marriage by putting the issue on the national agenda through media.
- To strengthen the coordination and collaboration among CSOs advocating against child marriage in Uganda.
The Objectives will be achieved through;
- Convening CSOs to draft the Parliamentary Petition for Marriage Bill 2017
- Mobilization of the women caucus of Parliament and CSOs to develop and implement an advocacy and lobby strategy for the Marriage Bill 2017 targeting different actors- legislators/key decision makers and key opinion leaders on issues of child marriage to ensure the bill passed into a law.
- Supporting journalists to document and report incidences of child marriage as a human rights violation.
Discussions are going on with Parliamentarians, CSOs and the media to ensure the process of enacting the bill into law is accelerated.
