Msichana Initiative (MI) has named veteran journalist Valerie Msoka and the 2005 Miss Tanzania, Nancy Sumari, champions in ending child marriage in the country.
The non-governmental organisation (NGO) also named MP Ng’wasi Kaman (CCM), representing youth groups, Margaret Sitta, Neema Lugangira, Aida Khenan, and Ndaisaba George as champions.
Others are girl-child rights activist, Devotha Tweve, and the Director of AGAPE, John Myola.
‘We look forward to seeing more voices being raised on the importance of protecting the well-being of our society by ensuring that girls are protected from child marriage’, Executive Director of MI, Rebeca Gyumi, said.
The organisation commended the Members of the Parliament and Chairperson of Women Muslims in Mainland Tanzania, Shamim Khan, for their commitment to ending early and forced child marriages in the country.
Khan noted that she expects to fully use the network of Muslim women to spread knowledge on best ways to protect the girl child in the community.
Data from Tanzania’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that 31 percent of girls in the country marry before their 18th birthday and five percent are married before the age of 15.
Tanzania’s Marriage Act of 1971 sets the minimum marriage age for girls at 15 with parental consent, and 18 for boys. It permits the marriage of 14-year-old children when a court is satisfied that special, although unspecified, circumstances exist.
But in a landmark 2016 decision, a Tanzanian high court ruled these provisions unconstitutional, and directed the government to raise the legal age of marriage to 18 years for both girls and boys.
Development Diaries learnt that this ruling followed a legal challenge by MI, which argued that the Marriage Act violated girls’ fundamental rights to equality, dignity, and access to education, and contravened Tanzania’s Law of the Child Act.
The organisation advocates girls’ rights by enhancing access to education opportunities, strengthening child protection systems, and facilitating access to better and affordable menstrual hygiene products and facilities.
The NGO also promotes legal and policy reforms that envisions the best interest of a girl child.
Source: Daily News
Photo source: Msichana Initiative
