Many ways to reduce child marriage in the mountainous district of Loc Binh

Doctors and nurses provide pre-marital health consultation and examination for youth union members and students, combined with propaganda about the consequences of early marriage and incestuous marriage.

Diversify forms of propaganda

Faced with the persistent situation of early marriage and consanguineous marriage (CNCHT) in Loc Binh district, especially in particularly difficult communes, in recent years, the district has focused on promoting propaganda work and diversifying propaganda forms, such as "going to every alley and knocking on every door" to mobilize and integrate propaganda into mobile information programs; organizing conferences and training courses to provide information on the Law on Gender Equality, knowledge on reproductive health care; organizing extracurricular activities to propagate to students at schools in the area...

From 2023 to present, the whole district has organized 110 propaganda sessions to about 8,000 listeners, about the consequences of early marriage and incestuous marriage; organized 16 conferences to disseminate andeducate the law, including the Law on Marriage and Family for nearly 1,200 delegates to attend.

Mr. Duong Van Toan, Lang Xe village, Dong Buc commune said: His family has a 15-year-old daughter who plans to hold a wedding in early February 2024. "To be honest, the wedding party has been booked and invitations have been sent out, but after the commune authorities persuaded and explained the negative aspects of early marriage, the family decided to stop holding the wedding."

Along with promoting propaganda, villages and hamlets in the district have incorporated some provisions of the Law on Marriage and Family into their village conventions and covenants to make them consistent. Up to now, 100% of villages and hamlets in the district have organized families to sign a commitment to say no to early marriage and incestuous marriage.

The Department of Culture and Information of Loc Binh district brings books and newspapers to serve ethnic people in communes in the district, helping them raise their awareness, intellectual level, and understanding of the law.

Pilot model to reduce early marriage and incestuous marriage

One of the solutions that is being implemented effectively is to deploy a pilot model to implement the Project "Reducing child marriage and incestuous marriage in ethnic minority areas" in Ai Quoc commune. The commune has 9 villages, 2,193 people, of which the Dao ethnic group accounts for nearly 97%. This is a particularly difficult commune in the district with a high rate of child marriage and incestuous marriage.

Deployed since 2021, the Commune People's Committee has established a Commune Steering Committee and a Mobilization Committee to implement the model, proactively grasp information about subjects at risk of early marriage, promptly have solutions to mobilize to stop organizing weddings, cancel marriages...; coordinate with secondary schools in the area to bring propaganda content about the consequences of early marriage to students, especially those in puberty.

Mr. Dang Van Quang, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ai Quoc Commune, said: Thanks to the implementation of the model, people's awareness has also been raised. In 2023, the commune mobilized to stop 2 child marriages. From the beginning of 2024 until now, the commune has not recorded any cases of child marriage. From 2021 until now, the commune has also no more cases of incestuous marriage.

In particular, implementing Sub-project 2: Reducing the situation of early marriage and consanguineous marriage in ethnic minority and mountainous areas under Project 9 of the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, recently, the Ethnic Minority Committee of Lang Son province coordinated with the Department of Health ; Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Department of Justice; People's Committee of Loc Binh district to organize propaganda activities to implement a pilot model to reduce the situation of early marriage and consanguineous marriage in the commune.

Through the program, youth union members and students are equipped with more information and knowledge to prevent and repel child marriage and incestuous marriage.

Conference on propaganda to implement a pilot model to reduce child marriage and consanguineous marriage in ethnic minority areas in Ai Quoc commune, Loc Binh district

With flexible solutions, the situation of early marriage and incestuous marriage in Loc Binh district has tended to decrease over the years. If in 2022, the whole district had 84 cases of early marriage, then in 2023 it decreased to 45 cases; in the first 6 months of 2024 there were only 3 cases. From 2023 to now, there have been no cases of incestuous marriage in the district.

Ms. Ta Thi Thu Huong, Head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids, Social Affairs and Ethnic Minorities of Loc Binh district, said that in implementing solutions to reduce early marriage and incestuous marriage, every year, the department organizes 1-2 propaganda and training sessions for representatives of leaders, commune-level officials, village chiefs, and organizations on preventing early marriage and incestuous marriage; regularly urges, guides, inspects, and supervises pilot models in the area.

"With the results from the pilot model, the department will continue to build, consolidate and replicate the model in other ethnic minority areas in the coming time," said Ms. Thu Huong.

Binh Dinh: Deploying many solutions to prevent child marriage and incestuous marriage

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/nhieu-cach-lam-de-giam-thieu-tao-hon-o-huyen-vung-cao-loc-binh-1721202260594.htm