August 17, 2016 By Victoria Saffa
The African Union would today launch the AU Campaign to End Child Marriage in Sierra Leone at the Bank of Sierra Leone Complex in Freetown.
The national launch would be organized by the Office of the First Lady, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, UNICEF and other Development Partners with the theme: ‘End Child Marriage for Sustainable Development in Sierra Leone.’
The campaign would be geared towards accelerating an end to child marriage in Africa by enhancing continental awareness of the negative effects of the practice.
The overall objective of the campaign was to fast-track the end of child marriage in Africa. The AU Campaign has been launched in 14 African countries on the continent and Sierra Leone would be the 15th country where the campaign would be launched.
It could be recalled that the AU Commission launched the Campaign to end Child Marriage in Ethiopia on 29 May, 2014 during the Conference of African Ministers of Social Development.
At the 25th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in June, 2015 African leaders endorsed the African Common Position on Ending Child Marriage in Africa.
The Republics of Malawi and Zimbabwe and the Islamic Republic of The Gambia have gone a step further in criminalizing child marriage.
Meanwhile, the African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs, Dr. Mustapha Kaloko, has yesterday arrived in Freetown ahead of the historic launch.