Girls Not Brides campaigners have warned that migration to South Africa is sustaining child marriages in Mzimba despite years of government and civil society interventions.
Speaking in an interview after a chief’s council conference in Mzimba, Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC) executive director Emma Kaliya, whose organisation belongs to the Girls Not Brides campaign, said many young people marry before leaving for South Africa, while school dropouts and cultural practices continue to fuel the practice.
She said: “There are issues here in Mzimba where young people migrate to South Africa. At times, before they migrate, they marry each other while they are still very young.”
Kaliya said communities should also look beyond poverty when addressing child marriage, arguing that parental responsibility and social norms play an equally important role.
Girls Not Brides technical lead Carol Kulemeka said Mzimba has a child marriage prevalence of 51 percent, making it one of the districts with the highest burden of the practice.
M’mbelwa District Council social welfare officer Prisca Zimba said although child marriage cases remain high, the district has recorded progress in recent years.
