Angola

30% of girls in Angola marry or enter a union before the age of 18 and 8% marry before age 15.

6% of boys in Angola marry before the age of 18.

In 2018, the Ministry of Family and Protection of Women reported that child marriage is particularly prevalent in rural areas within Lunda Sul, Moxico, Huambo, Bie and Malanje.

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys.

There is very limited information on child marriage in Angola.

In Angola, child marriage is exacerbated by:

- Violence against girls: In 2020, 7283 girls reported having experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence. Based on combined data of all children, 15,000 cases of different forms of violence were reported to the National Children’s Institute in 2020.

- COVID-19: COVID-19 has had a significant impact on girls in Angola. Before the pandemic 73% of the school-age population was enrolled in school. School closure has immediate adverse effects on children’s safety, wellbeing, and learning, as well as longer-term, negative consequences for socio-economic development. A key concern for children out of school is the heightened risk of their being victims of gender-based violence.

Angola has committed to ending child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The government submitted a Voluntary National Review at the 2021 High-Level Political Forum. In this review, the government indicated that there has been a dramatic rise in reported cases of child marriage, from 11 reported cases in 2017/2018 to 267 reported cases in 2019/2020 for girls below the age of 18 years.

Angola co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: the 2013 procedural resolution on child, early and forced marriage, the 2015 resolution calling to strengthen efforts to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage, the 2017 resolution on recognising the need to address child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian contexts, the 2019 resolution on the consequences of child marriage, and the 2021 resolution on child, early and forced marriage in times of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2014, Angola also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Angola co-sponsored the 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

Angola ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, which the Committee on the Rights of the Child has interpreted to recommend the establishment of a minimum age of marriage of 18, and acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1986, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

During its 2013 review, the CEDAW Committee expressed deep concern about the persistence of deeply rooted patriarchal stereotypes which contribute to child marriage in Angola. It urged the government to adopt legal provisions prohibiting the practice.

In its 2019 review, the CEDAW Committee reiterated its concerns about the persistence of child marriage in Angola. The Committee urged the country to end all harmful practices, including child marriage, expedite the revision of the Family Code to ensure that the minimum age of marriage is set at 18 with no exceptions, criminalise child marriage and enforce legislation.

In 2018, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged Angola to review the legislation to remove all exceptions that allow girls to marry at the age of 15 and boys at 16, including under customary law. The Committee called on the country to continue awareness-raising programmes on the harmful effects of early marriage ensuring that all stakeholders are targeted, and establish protection schemes for victims of child marriage.

In 1992 Angola ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage. In 2007 Angola ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, including Article 6 which sets the minimum age for marriage as 18.

Angola is one of 20 countries which committed to ending child marriage by the end of 2020 under the Ministerial Commitment on comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents and young people in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Angola is one of the countries where the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)/DREAMS Initiative is working to reduce rates of HIV among adolescent girls and young women.

In 2019, the government of Angola reported that a draft national strategy for preventing and combating early pregnancy and marriage was in the process of being adopted.

The minimum age of marriage in Angola is 18 years without any parental or judicial exceptions. However the Family Code 1988 states that a boy may be able to marry at 16 years old and a girl at 15 years old in exceptional cases where it is in the interest of the minors involved.