Cameroon

30% of girls in Cameroon marry before the age of 18 and 11% marry before the age of 15.

3% of boys in Cameroon marry before the age of 18.

Child marriage is most common in Adamaoua province and Extrême-Nord.

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that girls are somehow inferior to boys. In Cameroon, child marriage is also driven by:

● Poverty: Girls from Cameroon’s poorest households are almost five times more likely to marry before the age of 18 than girls from the richest households. Bride price – whereby a girl’s family receives payment for her marriage – is still widely practised there.

● Level of education: More than half of uneducated girls are currently married compared to 1 in 10 of secondary educated girls, and almost none of those with higher education. In addition, according to UNICEF, by the end of 2019 there were 855,000 children out of school in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon due to instability. This puts girls at an increased risk of child marriage and early pregnancy.

● Harmful practices: Marriage is predominantly arranged by the fathers, and influenced by religious and community leaders.

● Gender norms: Marriage is seen as a girl’s life purpose, so much so that in a 2015 study, girls from certain parts of Cameroon reported being portrayed as infertile, prostitutes or witches for not being married. High value is placed on virginity, with some cultural practices such as fulani teaching people that marriage will bring more gifts if a girl is a virgin. Some people feel that a girl should be living with her husband when she has her first menstruation. Women are often considered to be the “property” of their fathers or husbands.

Humanitarian settings can encompass a wide range of situations before, during, and after natural disasters, conflicts, and epidemics. They exacerbate poverty, insecurity, and lack of access to services such as education, factors which all drive child marriage. While gender inequality is a root cause of child marriage in both stable and crisis contexts, often in times of crisis, families see child marriage as a way to cope with greater economic hardship and to protect girls from increased violence.

In the case of Cameroon, the humanitarian situation is increasingly fragile. Since 2017, Cameroon has faced three complex humanitarian crises: (1) conflict between armed groups and the government in the Northwest and Southwest regions have escalated; (2) terrorist attacks by Boko Haram in the Far North of Cameroon; and (3) the Lake Chad basin conflict and the Central African Republic refugee crisis.

Conflict from 2017 has left more than 3.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. As of May 2023, in the Far North region of Cameroon, there are approximately 385,000 internally displaced persons, more than 115,000 Nigerian refugees and 350,000 Central African Republic refugees.

● Sexual violence: Plan International reported in 2018 that adolescent girls in communities most affected by the conflict in the Far North are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence, kidnapping and forced marriage perpetrated by armed groups. At the same time, some parents marry their daughters early due to the perception that marriage acts as a protective mechanism against the physical threat posed by armed groups.

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

During its Voluntary National Review at the 2019 High Level Political Forum, the government mentioned that ending harmful practices, such as child marriage, early or forced marriage and female genital mutilation, is part of the country's plan of emergence, called Cameroun Vision 2035.

The government submitted a Voluntary National Review at the 2022 High Level Political Forum. In this review, the government mentioned that the pre-school enrolment rate increased in 2021 to 38.4%, in comparison to 37.8% in 2019. The primary school enrolment rose from 70.6% in 2018 to 73.5% in 2020. The government attributes this increase in educational enrolment to the changing perceptions and attitudes towards education, especially for girls. Parents are moving away from unfavourable decisions for their daughters such as domestic work and child marriage. The government raised that to combat child marriage, in collaboration with the Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme et de la Famille (MINPROFF), they have adopted a National[VC1] Action Plan to Eradicate Child Marriage (2020-2024). Within this national action plan, the government has committed to launching a helpline, 1600, in order to report suspected cases of child marriage.

Cameroon signed a joint statement at the 2014 Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Cameroon ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993, which the Committee on the Rights of the Child has interpreted to recommend the establishment of a minimum age of marriage of 18, [KS2] and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1994, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2017, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged Cameroon to take all necessary measures to eliminate the practice of child marriage, including by finalising the revision of the Civil Code and establishing the minimum age for marriage as 18 for both girls and boys.

During its 2023 Universal Periodic Review, Cameroon acknowledged that through the National Gender Policy (NGP), they are trying to eradicate harmful practices against women and girls such as FGM/C, sexual and gender-based violence, child labour and child marriage. In order to encourage girls to stay in school, the government has provided incentives such as textbooks, food, hygiene kits, teaching materials and scholarships. Through the Association pour la promotion du développement social programme, the government has launched awareness-raising programmes for girls that include training on sexual and reproductive health, child marriage and trafficking. Child marriage and sexual harassment are criminal offences under the Penal Code (section 356 and section 302-I). The government aims to promote, prosecute and uphold child protection for Cameroonian children through the National Child Protection Policy Document (2017-2026) and the National Plan to Eradicate Child Marriage (2020-2024). The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child commended Cameroon for their remedies to effectively combat child marriage through the Penal Code.

During its 2018 Universal Periodic Review, Cameroon agreed to examine recommendations to strengthen the implementation of legislation and policies aimed at ending harmful traditional practices, in particular child, early and forced marriage.

During its 2013 Universal Periodic Review, Cameroon agreed to intensify awareness-raising campaigns for local authorities, families, traditional and religious leaders and the general population in order to effectively fight against child marriage.

In November 2016 Cameroon launched the African Union Campaign to end child marriage in Africa.

In 1997 Cameroon ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage. In 2012 Cameroon 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.

Cameroon 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.

Cameroon is a partner country of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

In 2018, Cameroon reported that a multi-sectoral platform for actors engaged in combating violence and harmful cultural practices such child marriage had been created, and a National Family Policy Paper, which presumably would include measures to combat early and forced marriages, was in the process of being drafted.

In addition, Cameroon has reported efforts to increase the school enrolment rate for girls through awareness campaigns and the provision of incentives, among others, with a view to combating gender-based violence in schools and early or forced marriage.

UNFPA is working with the government to create call centres where people can report child marriage cases.

No marriage may be celebrated: (1) if the girl is a minor of 15 years old or the boy of 18 years old, unless for serious reasons a waiver has been granted by the President of the Republic. Order on Civil Status Registration (1981, amended to 2011),

Legal changes to Section 356 of the Penal Code in 2016 raised the minimum age of marriage from 15 years to 18 years for girls and boys however it in conflict with the Civil Status, and not in Force.