Save the Children International (SCI) has called for more funds to address the immediate needs of children and communities in northern Mozambique.
About 108 cases of child marriage were recorded between January and March 2023 in northern Mozambique, new data from SCI shows.
The child protection non-governmental organisation (NGO), in a recent analysis, said the rate of early marriage has substantially increased in the Pemba, Metuge, Chiure and Montepuez districts of Cabo Delgado.
This, according to the NGO, is being influenced by the forced displacement of children into camps and crowded homes due to the ongoing armed conflict in the region.
More than 784,504 people, including 370,000 children, have been displaced as a result of the conflict, and over 1.5 million people are in need of life-saving assistance.
With many parents facing the devastating choice of being unable to provide food and shelter for their families, they are choosing to marry off their children with hopes of lessening the survival load on the family.
‘Cabo Delgado was already the worst place in Mozambique to be a child before this conflict began; now, with massive displacement and horrific abuses, things are much worse’, the NGO’s Chief Executive Officer, Inger Ashing, said in a statement.
‘Girls are particularly vulnerable and are being married off at an alarmingly high rate.
‘Nearly half a million children have fled violence and find themselves sharing homes with distant relatives, sometimes over a dozen in a single small dwelling.
‘They are out of school, their parents have no jobs, and there is not enough healthcare, food or water. The situation is unsustainable and desperate.
‘More funds are urgently needed to address the immediate needs of children and communities while building sustainable funding streams to work towards longer-term solutions for lasting resilience and to build and maintain peace’.
Cabo Delgado already has the second-highest rate of child marriage and the highest rate of adolescent pregnancy in Mozambique, with 65 percent of adolescents aged 15 to 19 already mothers or pregnant.
Source: SCI
Photo source: DFID