By Fatmata Binta Bah
Members of Parliament from both the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) have unanimously celebrated the recent enactment of Prohibition of Early Child Marriage Act, 2024.
During the weekly press briefing on Tuesday 25th June, 2024, through the Ministry of Information and Civic Education at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperations Conference Hall in Freetown, Hon. Mariama Zombo of the SLPP who happens to be the proponent of the Bill in Parliament disclosed that First Lady, Fatima Jaabie Bio, has been the pioneer for the said Bill whose enactment has been greeted with a bang much to the satisfaction from many quarters. Hon. Zombo furthered that the Act, which aims at protecting children’s rights and ensuring their access to education and opportunities, is part of the First Lady’s ongoing advocacy, which began with the launch of the “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign in 2018.
The Hon. Mariama Zombo further disclosed that Madam Bio’s advocacy hit the heights when she engaged the Female Caucus in Parliament, which saw her as parliamentarian tabling a Private Member Bill to ban early child marriage. This, she went on, demonstrated the First Lady’s penchant to prioritize the voices of women and girls in the legislative process.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill has now passed Parliament and awaits the President’s assent to become law. This legislation sets the minimum legal age for marriage at 18 and includes stringent enforcement measures, focusing on education and empowerment for young girls.
The lawmaker lamented that Sierra Leone is among the countries with the highest rate of child marriage across the globe, stressing that it is really heart rending to see young girls dying during child birth.
Chairperson of the Committee on Gender and Children Affairs, Hon. Catherine Zainab Tarawally, disclosed that President Julius Maada Bio, in 2019 in Nairobi, signed an agreement to join the world to eradicate child marriage. She also disclosed that she was part of the dignitaries that were present during the launch of the ‘Hands Off Our Girls’ campaign by the First lady in Bombali District, North of the country. She further noted that the need to protect girls cannot be overemphasised, pointing out the services she rendered working in Caritas, UN and as a journalist.
In a similar development, Hon. Sia Mahawa Habiama Tommy has recently expressed satisfaction over the prohibition of early child marriage, describing it a cancer that has, over the years, eaten up the fabric of society. The lawmaker furthered that early child marriage has, over the years, taken a toll on the girl child, stressing that the emotional impact on girls and their families can be devastating as anxiety, depression, and stress are commonplace, affecting overall mental health of girls and their parents. Society, she went on, loses valuable human capital when girls succumb to early child marriage and this loss is not just economic but also cultural and intellectual, as contributions to their communities are cut short.
Hon. Sia Mahawa Habiama Tommy also reiterated that early child marriage adversely affects young girls, increasing risks of health complications during pregnancy and childbirth, heightened susceptibility to HIV and other infections and early school dropouts.
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Wednesday, June 28th , 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)