Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real progress

“Early marriage? Tackle the issue of early sexuality first!”

“If we don’t marry our daughters off, they’ll get pregnant and bring shame on us!”

“Our religion doesn’t forbid children from marrying!”

“It’s our tradition!”

Such are some of the arguments put forward in various places to rationalise the perpetuation of this practice which affects more than 700 million children worldwide, 250 million of which are in Africa.

But are they excuses or justifiable reasons?

Theoreticians of crime and fraud identify three major factors at play before every act of abuse: the absence of rules or controls, the opportunity, and the justification. These also fit perfectly when applied to social practices that are prejudicial to the well-being of children.

Indeed, faced with the deterioration of the social fabric, the erosion of values and the disappearance of moral reference points, communities will seek refuge in any argument that can at least partially lighten the burden of conscience when the future of a precious being - a child at the dawn of life - is mortgaged in an act which can always be justified in terms of protection and social virtues.

Having been around many homes where there are sponsored and unsponsored children, World Vision has seen first-hand how child marriage inhibits all hope of social success and self-realisation. After trying and failing to raise this point, World Vision finally resolved to address the issue by means of a series of specific and targeted responses.

If it may be said that ‘if wars begin in the minds of men’, it is therefore in the minds of men that the values of peace and tolerance must be constructed.

For ten years now, World Vision Senegal has been striving to encourage the collective minds of communities and the individual minds of children themselves to reject child marriage.

Here is a glimpse of the responses, touching on children, the state, communities and families:

‘Girls’ Holistic Development’: Reawakening positive local cultural values to counteract those which are harmful to children. Velingara, Senegal 2008-15.

The promotion of positive cultural values and the discouragement of practices which are detrimental to the well-being of children by calling on the influence of elders, specifically grandmothers, dignitaries, religious figures and teachers resulted in:

• forcing back the average age of marriage from 15 to 17 in the 75 villages in the area
• teaching basic positive values to pupils in 32 schools in the area
• discontinuing the custom of genital mutilation in those 75 villages

Velingara Child Protection Project, Senegal Child Protection Project: galvanising the State, communities and families to promote local systems of prevention and care for children.

By implementing child protection procedures at community level, this initiative succeeded in:

• establishing protection committees in 434 villages of the 9 departments of Velingara
• implementing an integrated case management system for instances of abuse which now triggers a response from all relevant agencies linked to the departmental child protection committees
• taking a tangible step to put into practice the National Child Protection Strategy of Senegal

Channels of hope, Peace Road curriculum, Kids Clubs: a battery of model projects to support and sustain all progress made

A series of actions which has now built up a force of 489 children’s organisations and hundreds of religious leaders who support the process of a change in community norms.

“It was only after one of World Vision Senegal’s awareness roadshows that I realised that I had to urgently fight my way out the marriage that my father was going to force me into, ruining my education.

I lost no time in informing the Head of the school, who made a call to the Velingara committee. They arrived in a delegation to see my father. I have no idea what words were spoken between those walls, but by the end my father had dropped the marriage that was planned for the following month. I have been able to carry on with my studies. Many girls haven’t been so lucky, but at least from now on others will benefit because everyone knows where to turn in such a predicament.”

At a national level, World Vision has invested much energy in setting up the national protection group as a forum for facilitating synergies between all NGOs with a stake in child protection. It was observing the extent of World Vision’s commitment to this that motivated the Senegalese state to invite the NGO to become a member of the National Intersectoral Committee on Child Protection. 

If any proof were needed, this testimony illustrates how worthwhile it is to invest in children themselves to be the driving force for positive social change in a few decades’ time, when they too will be fathers and mothers.

Through these various initiatives, World Vision Senegal is now positioning itself as a key player in providing support to communities, seeking to bring about a better world for children on the basis of three principles:

• It is not the case that we love these children more than their parents, who would never wilfully act to harm their children.
• We are convinced that if we respect the values of each culture, we will succeed in bringing others to the point of being ready to cast a critical eye over practices that have dictated their experience for thousands of years.
• We will not achieve a meaningful result without mobilising all sectors of Senegalese society to rally around the state in a concerted effort that is sincere and respectful of everyone’s beliefs.

Great strides towards the abandonment of child marriage will surely follow… from a profound change in the minds of each and every person.