Empowering Futures: Malawi’s Pathway to Ending Child Marriage
By Jessie Kazembe
Over one-third (38% ) of Malawian girls are married before age 18 Child marriage perpetuates cycles of abuse and denies girls access to education, and exposes girls to life-threatening risks, such as early pregnancies that contribute to the country’s high maternal mortality rate (349 per 100,000 live births; Malawi Health Sector Strategic Plan III, 2023–2030). Despite the enactment in 2015 of the Marriage, Divorce, and Family Relations Act, which sets the legal minimum age for marriage at 18, enforcement challenges persist. Cultural norms and economic pressures often drive early marriages, making community-driven initiatives crucial.
USAID through the PROPEL Health project supported Malawi to reinvigorate the National Taskforce on Ending Child Marriage and to review and revise the National Strategy on Ending Child Marriage in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including government, civil society, traditional leaders, youth, and development partners. The revised strategy, covering 2024–2030, represents a renewed commitment to addressing one of the most pressing forms of gender-based violence affecting young girls. Specifically, it aims to halve child marriage rates by 2030 through legal enforcement, community engagement, and expanded social protection programs. By advocating for stronger enforcement of the legal minimum marriage age of 18 and challenging harmful cultural norms, the strategy provides an enabling environment to protect young girls from abuse and guarantees the right to access justice and support. Community-driven initiatives, especially those led by traditional leaders and grassroots organizations, are vital in reaching the most affected through targeted prevention and response mechanisms.
While the strategy provides promise, moving policy to action to end child marriage in Malawi requires collective action. Implementation of the strategy is key. Throughout the coming months, PROPEL Health will be working alongside the government and other partners to create detailed implementation plans and strengthen multi-sectoral collaboration across key sectors (e.g., education, justice, gender) to ensure the effective execution, monitoring and sustainability of the strategy. But as a first step, as we kick off this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we call on government officials, development partners, community leaders, non-governmental organizations, youth groups, and parents and guardians, to take a stand to end child marriage in Malawi by advocating for legal accountability to stop child marriages that rob girls of their right to grow as children and participate positively to their own, and Malawi’s, development.
