Reducing child marriage in ethnic minority areas

Since 2015, the province has implemented the Project "Reducing child marriage and consanguineous marriage in ethnic minority areas in the period 2015-2020 in Quang Ninh province". In 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued Plan No. 44/KH-UBND to implement the Project "Reducing child marriage and consanguineous marriage in ethnic minority areas in the period 2021-2025" (phase II) in the province.

The Club to promote the role of prestigious people, village elders, and village chiefs in mobilizing people to participate in preventing and combating child marriage in Duong Hoa commune signed a commitment to step up propaganda.

On that basis, the work of propaganda, dissemination and implementation of the Project was promoted. In the period 2015-2025, all levels and sectors coordinated to organize 164 training courses for 14,891 cadres, prestigious people, village elders, village chiefs, and organizations, equipped with knowledge and skills in propaganda and advocacy to prevent early marriage and consanguineous marriage (HNCHT); more than 93,000 training documents and more than 313,000 communication products of all kinds were brought to the people. Social networks and mass media were used to reach groups of adolescents and the elderly in the family in appropriate languages and ways of reception.

The multidimensional approach is a bright spot in Quang Ninh's strategy to prevent child marriage. Community communication activities were enhanced with 3,846 sessions, attracting 261,717 participants; 5,987 consultation sessions were organized with 63,865 people provided with knowledge on marriage law, reproductive health, the harmful effects of child marriage and HNCHT; 11 art performances with propaganda content were held, creating a ripple effect in the community. The provincial Department of Education organized 12 forums "Ethnic minority students say no to child marriage and incestuous marriage" with the participation of 4,044 students and teachers.

The Department of Health coordinated with the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to build 79 models of "Prevention of early marriage and consanguineous marriage" clubs in communes and wards of ethnic minority, mountainous and border areas. Each club has about 40 core members, meeting regularly, becoming the nucleus of communication, detecting and intervening early in cases at risk of early marriage.

Authorities propagate the law, including the prevention of child marriage for ethnic minorities in Vang Danh ward. Photo: Vy Yen

The Department of Justice presides over the dissemination of legal information related to marriage and family law, and provides legal aid to reduce child marriage and HNCHT. Localities in the province have done a good job of integrating the issue of reducing child marriage and HNCHT with population and family planning programs, sustainable poverty reduction, and other socio-economic development activities; mobilizing the participation of the Fatherland Front, Women's Union, Youth Union, Veterans Association, schools, and health stations to ensure synchronous implementation, extend schooling time, and open up employment options for ethnic minority youth, thereby reducing underage marriage.

The inspection and supervision of the implementation of the Project has been focused. From 2015 to 2024, the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions and localities have organized 66 inspections and supervisions on the situation of early marriage and HNCHT in places with a large population of ethnic minorities. Localities have mobilized 10 couples to stop living together as husband and wife, 1 couple to cancel their wedding when they were underage; have taken administrative measures against specific violations; and commended outstanding collectives and individuals to encourage initiatives and set examples of effective models.

Thanks to diverse forms of intervention and synchronous solutions, the situation of child marriage in the province has significantly decreased. Before 2015, the whole province recorded 11,331 cases of child marriage, mainly among the Dao, Tay, and San Chay ethnic groups; by the 2015-2020 period, it had decreased to 692 cases, equivalent to a decrease of about 94% compared to before 2015. Continuing to maintain that momentum, in the 2021-2024 period, the ethnic minority areas in the province had only 319 cases of child marriage, a decrease of about 53.9% compared to the 2015-2020 period; there was no HNCHT situation.

The positive results in this work are both the motivation and the foundation for the province to continue to replicate effective models and improve policies to ensure children's rights, improve gender equality and sustainably develop ethnic minority areas in the area.

Cam Khue

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/giam-tinh-trang-tao-hon-vung-dong-bao-dtts-3382201.html