Nada Al-Ahdal shares details of an initiative to end child marriage in Yemen through a local organisation

Nada posted a live video explaining the organisation's vision for this initiative and calling on human rights organisations, sheikhs and community leaders in every region of Yemen to replicate it in order to guarantee girls' rights and the completion of their education. She thanked the SOS Organisation for Capacity Development and UNICEF for the success of the initiative, which ends the marriage of girls under 18 and enrols them in schools to complete their education.

It is worth noting that the SOS Organisation for Capacity Development in Aden presented an initiative to end child marriage, which was endorsed by the neighbourhood elders, community leaders and civil and religious sheikhs, to stop the marriage of girls under the age of 18 in the Al-Buraiqa area of Aden and to have them complete their education in schools, and to respect the human rights that Yemen signed up to in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF sponsored the initiative at the close of the project, which was launched on Sunday, 22 December 2019.

A ceremony was held to announce the Document of the People of Qalu'ah Bir Ahmed to reduce child marriage and return to school”, organised by the “SOS” Centre for Youth Capacity Development with the support of UNICEF” in Bir Ahmed, Al-Buraiqa District, Aden. It lasted one day, with the participation of parents, religious figures, neighbourhood elders, the protection committee represented by the local council, and community and religious leaders.

For the first time in Yemen, an agreement to reduce child marriage is signed.. The people of Al-Buraiqa celebrate the document and announce a return to school

Local newspapers also reported the following quotations from those attending and the representatives

At the start of the ceremony announcing the reduction of child marriage, ” Najiba Al-Najjar”, director of projects and programmes at the (SOS) Centre for Youth Capacity Development, welcomed all those present, explaining “that the ceremony announcing the Document of the People of Qalu'ah Bir Ahmed in Al-Buraiqa District came after contributing to many activities and to raising the awareness of the residents through dialogue sessions targeting community leaders, religious figures and parents about the dangers of child marriage and its consequences, how to find solutions that help reduce child marriage in their communities, and the importance of children returning to school.

She added: ” The aim of the project Joining Forces for a Safe Age of Marriage is to strengthen the identification of child marriage cases and to provide multiple response and referral services through girls' education, the legal environment and assistance, alternatives to early marriage, and improving maternal and child reproductive health, and to help raise the awareness of parents, religious and community leaders and communities about the negative effects of child marriage.

She stressed ” that the signing by the people of Qalu'ah Bir Ahmed of this community custom is considered a first step towards pressing the relevant authorities to enact a law or a measure setting a safe age for marriage.. pointing out that it is a great achievement given the impact made by the activities of the project Joining Forces for a Safe Age of Marriage in changing the future, and that it is considered a starting point for change from the countryside to the cities across all the governorates of Yemen… praising the attention and efforts of UNICEF and the whole team in contributing to a positive and successful step in the present.

For his part, Sheikh ” Rashad Awad Baisi”, a member of the local council and head of the community committee, said in his speech 🙁 the people of the village of Qalu'ah Bir Ahmed / Al-Buraiqa have agreed on a tribal custom providing that the girls of the village shall not be married off under the age of (18) years, because of the great harm and dangers it poses to girls' health.
He added ” that this is a commitment by the notables, sheikhs and community and religious leaders of the village of Qalu'ah Bir Ahmed / Al-Buraiqa to implement this community custom written in this document until a legal decision is issued setting the safe age for marriage. He called on civil society organisations to support the people of the village of Qalu'ah Bir Ahmed” with all their projects in the areas of development.

For her part, the child protection representative of UNICEF, ” Fathiya Omar ”, expressed her happiness at these activities on the ground, including the signing of the agreement, in order to protect girls from early marriage.. noting that the early marriage of children has negative effects and dangers for health and mental well-being … pointing out that this step of signing an agreement to reduce early marriage is important and is considered a great achievement in its impact .. and stating that UNICEF has strategic plans, among them its plans for the year (2020), and that these plans and strategies will be strengthened to improve the situation, including improving and supporting health, legal and psychological aspects and education.

The people of Qalu'ah Bir Ahmed also appealed to the UNICEF representative ” to build classrooms in the schools so as to accommodate their children in preparatory and secondary schools.

The ceremony included songs and theatrical performances expressing the dangers and harms of early marriage and raising residents' awareness in order to prevent the phenomenon of child marriage.

Those attending included, from the “SOS” Centre for Youth Capacity Development, Hassan Al-Najjar, the director general, Majed Qassem, the executive director, and Nelly Naji, an adviser at the SOS Centre; Mujeeb Sultan, child protection officer at the UNICEF Yemen office; Abdulmalik Al-Rabadi; and a number of media workers and journalists.