The African Union team focused on safeguarding children’s rights and abolishing female genital mutilation has initiated projects in collaboration with the Civil Society coalition in Nigeria, alongside religious and traditional leaders, to eradicate child marriages in Nigeria. This initiative arises from the escalating number of girls and young women, especially in northern Nigeria, suffering from vesicovaginal fistula and a significant prevalence of maternal and infant mortality.
Hemine Kembo Gatsing, the leader of the AU team and representative of the Head AU, mentioned that engaging with the CSO coalition and additional stakeholders, including traditional and religious leaders, is an element of their three-day mission in Nigeria aimed at promoting the AU’s efforts to eliminate child marriage and tackle the detrimental effects of female genital mutilation.
She stated, “our mission commenced with a dialogue with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC); now we are interacting with the CSOs, traditional rulers, and other stakeholders to comprehend some of the community-based innovative strategies they are exploring, in addition to other models they are evaluating.”
She highlighted that community-based initiatives might prove more effective in reaching local populations and educating them about the dangers of these harmful practices through their trusted traditional and religious leaders.
She recognized the importance of aligning legislation in this domain for effective coordination, stating, “One of the central interventions by civil societies in this effort is providing support such as psychosocial assistance and offering safe spaces or shelters for victims of these harmful practices. Because the impact on the child is often unimaginable, particularly when such issues emerge within the family context, and the child may be uncomfortable engaging with their family or faces neglect, necessitating the involvement of civil society organizations before mediation occurs,” she elaborated.
The Child Rights Act (CRA) is presently being adopted by all 50 states; however, Carolyn Seaman, co-chair of the CSOs Coalition, emphasized that substantial work remains to be done to galvanize action around this objective. Instead, she indicated that the more formidable task now is comprehending the act being adopted and ensuring its effective execution by the states.
She remarked, “As civil societies, our primary concern now lies not merely in getting states to endorse and adopt this Act but in grasping the essence of these laws being adopted in various states, particularly some in the north that still explicitly and consciously overlook the minimum marriage age for children. A child should not be wed unless they are at least eighteen years old, and many laws fail to stipulate that.”
Offering safe havens for victims and providing counseling to both victims and their families are essential actions conducted by most CSOs in areas where such incidents are prevalent, as noted by Kolawole Olatosimi, another co-chair of the coalition. Nonetheless, she pointed out that funding remains a significant hurdle for many CSOs, compelling numerous organizations to seek internal self-sustaining solutions instead of depending on donors for financial support.
He stated, “some of the tactics the CSOs employ within communities involve conditional cash transfers, which require that parents ensure their girl child attains secondary education or meets other specific conditions to qualify for the financial aid. This is in addition to our safe space programs which routinely include services for pregnant adolescents.
Sani Umar Jabbi, a traditional and religious leader, asserted that most states in northern Nigeria have adopted the CRA and are actively striving to eliminate such damaging customs from their communities.
He noted, “They are advocating for parents to enroll their daughters in schools, where they can contribute to their communities through their chosen professions, such as nursing or medicine,” emphasizing that they are leading efforts to inform their communities about the risks associated with these practices.
