Girls Parliament to end child marriage in Uganda

Summary

SCOEN proposes an innovative approach to end child marriage through the use of digital technologies. We aim to provide young and teenaged girls with the tools they need to participate in community decision-making to take charge of their own futures. Through the creation of "Digital Learning Clubs and Spaces" and "Life Schools" for girls and young women, the program educates girls about sexual and reproductive rights and health, use political and community advocacy to end child marriage.

Challenge

Child marriage is a major impediment to girls' and women's human rights and to overall development. In Uganda today, a staggering over 37% women were married as children, and 10% married before their 15th birthday. The tradition of dowries contributes to the prevalence of child marriage in girls often serve as payment for debt between one family and another. Such customs deprive girls and women of their rights and undermine efforts to improve girls & women status.

Solution

The program aims to provide community members with access to and training in the use of digital technologies to obtain and disseminate information about children's rights, to raise awareness about the harms of child marriage, to advocate to end child marriage, and to make them aware of the means of prevention. The objective is to harness digital technologies to facilitate and catalyze awareness-raising about child marriage and to strengthen lobbying to put an end to this harmful practice.

Long-Term Impact

Your giving will provide 120 young women with training to lead "Girls' Parliaments" enabling them to become change agents in their communities and to contribute to raising community awareness about children's rights, child marriage, and women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, equip parents with the knowledge they need to be effective advocates of girls' and women's rights and to be able to take action to end child marriage. Together, we can end child marriage!

Resources

https://scoenuganda.org

This a link to the project page on SCOEN's website