Child marriage declines sharply - an important step forward for Quang Ninh

Once a painful issue in many ethnic minority areas, early marriage and consanguineous marriage in Quang Ninh have now been controlled and significantly reduced. Thanks to the effective implementation of Resolution No. 06-NQ/TU of the Provincial Party Committee on "Sustainable development of ethnic minority, mountainous, border and island areas associated with sustainable poverty reduction in the 2021-2025 period, with a vision to 2030", along with Plan No. 192/KH-UBND in 2023, Quang Ninh has become a bright spot in the country.

In an effort to eliminate child marriage and incestuous marriage.

From “hot spot” to bright spot

Leaders of the Ethnic Committee (now the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions) mobilized women at risk of early marriage in Quang Duc commune to return to school or vocational training, and commit to not getting married early (by 2024).

Before 2015, child marriage and incestuous marriage were a worrying issue in many mountainous communes in Quang Ninh. According to the provincial Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, during this period, the whole province had 11,331 cases of child marriage, mainly among the Dao, Tay, and San Chay ethnic groups. Backward customs, limited awareness, and difficult economic conditions caused many young people in remote and isolated areas to marry early, affecting population quality, reproductive health, and development opportunities.

Realizing the urgency of the problem, Quang Ninh has issued many strong policies to prevent it. In particular, after implementing Resolution 06-NQ/TU, all levels, sectors and localities have joined in with the spirit of "going to every alley, knocking on every door, checking every subject". Many effective communication models have been replicated such as "No early marriage, no incestuous marriage club", "Cultural villages and hamlets say no to early marriage", "Village elders and hamlet chiefs set an example", contributing to spreading awareness and changing behavior in the community.

Launching the model "Promoting the role of prestigious people, village elders, shamans, and doctors in ethnic minority areas to mobilize people to participate in ensuring security and order, and preventing child marriage in the area" in Quang Phong commune (former Hai Ha district), now Quang Ha commune. (October 2023).

Thanks to the synchronous and persistent implementation of solutions, in the period 2015 - 2020, the number of child marriages in Quang Ninh decreased to 692 cases (down 94% compared to before 2015), mainly among the Dao, Kinh, and San Chay ethnic groups. In the period 2021-2024, this number continued to decrease sharply to 319 cases, down another 53.9% compared to the previous period. After nearly a decade, the rate of child marriage decreased by more than 97%, there are no more consanguineous marriages; this is considered an outstanding result compared to many other mountainous provinces.

According to Ms. An Thi Thin, Deputy Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of Quang Ninh province, this result was achieved thanks to the close direction of the province, the close coordination of all levels and sectors, and the persistent efforts of the grassroots staff. In particular, people's awareness has changed significantly, they understand the harmful effects of early marriage and voluntarily comply with the law; thereby, contributing to creating an important foundation for sustainable development of population work in ethnic minority areas.

Synchronous, durable and practical solutions

Quang Ninh mobilizes the strength of the entire political system, promoting communication in many creative forms, suitable for each target group. According to the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of Quang Ninh province, from 2015 to now, the whole province has organized more than 3,800 thematic communication sessions attracting over 260,000 people; nearly 6,000 counseling sessions for more than 63,000 people equipped with legal knowledge on marriage, reproductive health, and gender equality.

In particular, the Education sector coordinated with the provincial Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to organize 12 forums on “Ethnic minority students say no to early marriage and incestuous marriage”, attracting more than 4,000 students and teachers in mountainous areas to participate. Many students, after being counseled, changed their perceptions and returned to school. Along with that, the Culture sector organized 11 propaganda art performances in remote areas, spreading the message of progressive and equal marriage.

The province currently has 79 clubs for “Prevention of early marriage and consanguineous marriage” in 79 communes and wards in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, with about 40 core members of each club who are cadres, union members, and prestigious people. Activities and propaganda sessions are integrated into village meetings, traditional festivals, helping people to easily accept, raise awareness and voluntarily change their behavior.

Hai Ha Medical Center (old) provides reproductive health counseling for ethnic minority women in 2024.

Mass media activities have been strongly expanded, contributing to spreading the message of “say no to child marriage”. The whole province has published more than 313,000 media products, compiled 93,000 documents, handbooks, and manuals, many of which are in ethnic languages. Dramatizing propaganda content, producing short clips, and using social networks to interact with young people have helped the message of preventing and combating child marriage penetrate deeply into each community.

Thanks to the synchronous implementation of solutions, the rate of child marriage in Quang Ninh has decreased sharply, there are no more cases of incestuous marriage; this is clear evidence of the positive change in awareness and actions of people in the highlands.

Along with raising awareness, the socio-economic life of ethnic minorities has been significantly improved. By 2022, 100% of ethnic minority villages and hamlets will meet new rural standards, there will be no more particularly disadvantaged communes; the average income will reach 83.79 million VND/person/year, the poverty rate will decrease to 0.002%. When living standards improve, highland youth will have the conditions to study and start a business, contributing to preventing sustainable early marriage and building a comprehensively developed ethnic minority region.

Towards sustainable goals

Officials of the Ethnic Minorities Committee (now the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions) of the province inspected the situation of early marriage and incestuous marriage in Hai Ha commune in 2024.

Despite the remarkable results achieved, the work of preventing and combating child marriage still needs to be maintained continuously and more extensively. Some border areas and remote areas still have the potential risk of recurrence if the propaganda is interrupted or there is a lack of close coordination.

In the coming time, Quang Ninh will continue to implement the Population and Development Strategy for Ethnic Minority Areas for the period 2025-2030, associated with the goal of improving population quality, gender equality and comprehensive development of mountainous areas. The province plans to build an electronic database to manage the marital status of ethnic minorities, serving the work of monitoring, early warning and timely intervention support. Along with that, the model of "Hamlets and villages without child marriage" will be expanded and replicated in all mountainous districts.

According to Ms. An Thi Thin, the upcoming focus is to promote the role of prestigious people, village elders, village chiefs, people who speak ethnic languages ​​and understand ethnic culture, so that they can act as a bridge to bring Party policies and State laws to each household. Communication work is also being innovated in the direction of "multi-platform", taking advantage of social networks, short videos, and smart speaker systems in the highlands.

The Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions will continue to advise the Provincial People's Committee to strengthen leadership, include the goal of eliminating child marriage in the socio-economic development program, and link the responsibility of leaders with prevention results. Communication and education work for adolescents will be deployed in a diverse manner, integrated into extracurricular programs at schools, combined with promoting the role of village elders, village chiefs, and prestigious people in propaganda and mobilization.

Officials of the Provincial Ethnic Committee (now the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions) propagated about the situation of early marriage and incestuous marriage in Tien Yen district (old) in 2023.

The province continues to synchronously implement policies to support learning and employment for ethnic minority youth, expand vocational training associated with on-site employment to help young people have a stable income and avoid early marriage. At the same time, it will strengthen the capacity of grassroots cadres, perfect the legal framework on marriage and family, strictly handle violations, create a deterrent legal environment, and protect the legitimate rights of girls and women in ethnic minority areas.

The success in completely eliminating incestuous marriage and reducing child marriage by more than 97% is not only a victory in numbers, but also a vivid demonstration of the strong change in the knowledge, culture and quality of the population of ethnic minorities. This result clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of implementing Resolution 06-NQ/TU and Plan 192/KH-UBND, affirming the high political determination of Quang Ninh in the journey of building a sustainable, civilized and happy ethnic minority region - where all people enjoy the fruits of development and no one is left behind.

Thanh Hang

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/tao-hon-giam-manh-buoc-tien-quan-trong-cua-quang-ninh-3380078.html