Lest we forget: DAC 2015

August 31, 2015

Dialogue is essential in ending practices, norms and attitudes around child marriage. Today (16 June 2015), ROOTS team commemorated the Day of the African Child with more than 300 community members from David Small Farm, Shamva. We discussed practical solutions to end child marriage at the mining community. “We have the power to end child marriage, we need to value our girls and send them to school” said the community chairperson.

Several activities were conducted on the day, among them, traditional dances, poetry, and community dialogue sessions, all in the spirit appreciating the role played by the ‘African Child’. Key messages shared by community members were focused on the need to empower young girls through education and further training initiatives on their Sexual and Reproductive Health as a means to eradicate child marriage. However, the participation of males in these dialogue sessions was a reflection of the positive strides being made in ensuring that indeed child marriage is a factor that affects not only women in particular, but the entire community as a whole. This year’s commemorations were done under the theme “25 Years after the Adoption of the African Children’s Charter: Accelerating our Collective Efforts to End Child Marriage in Africa”