Djibouti

7% of girls in Djibouti marry before the age of 18 and 1% marry before the age of 15.

Child marriage is slightly more prevalent in rural parts of Djibouti and in districts outside the capital.

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 Djibouti, but available information indicates that it is driven by:

● Gender norms: Djiboutian law states that the role of the wife is to manage the household, while the husband is responsible for the family expenditure. In addition, a 2006 MICS study showed that 41% of married girls aged 15-19 had a husband who was 10 or more years older.

● Violence against girls: In a 2019 national survey on violence against women, it was found that 3% of girls between the ages of 10-14 (2% living in urban areas and 9% in rural areas) and 10% of girls between the ages of 15-17 (8% in urban areas and 18% in rural areas) are married. The average age at first marriage in Djibouti is 23 years. According to a 2022 UNICEF report, there are 48,956 women, girls and boys in need of protection.

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 Djibouti, in 2020, below average rainfall caused drought that affected the livelihoods of thousands of families. Djibouti is susceptible to a range of natural disasters such as flooding and cyclical drought, which causes extreme food insecurity and displacement. Drought predominately affects the regions of Ali Sabieh, Arta, Obock and Tadjourah. Djibouti remains one of the most underfunded countries in the Horn of Africa, with 90% of their food supply coming from abroad. However, the war in the Ukraine has heavily impacted the food supply that Djibouti receive as 84% of their wheat imports come from the Ukraine. As a cause of drought, in October 2022, 72,000 people, including 29,000 children, were in need of humanitarian assistance, and 6,000 people were displaced.

● Displacement: Due to forced displacement, cultural norms and values that are faced by refugee populations are likely to lead to child marriage. Through a UNHCR study, it was revealed that refugee child marriage rates were lower than their host community and lower than their country of origin.

● Humanitarian: Djibouti is situated near multiple conflict countries and frequent migration from neighbouring countries often takes place. As of August 2021, it is estimated that there are approximately 34,005 refugees and asylum-seekers in Djibouti, mostly from Yemen (6,021), Somalia (14,132) and Ethiopia (12,742). In a UNHCR study, it was found that the refugee population in Djibouti had lower rates of marriage for girls between the ages of 10-19 than their host counterparts. The prevalence of child marriage for girls between the ages of 10-19 was 7.8% for the Yemeni refugees and 11.8% for nearby host populations. Yemeni refugees are predominantly located in Djibouti City and Markazi refugee camp and the Somali refugees in Al-Addeh and Holl Holl refugee camp.

Djibouti 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 2022 High Level Political Forum. In this review, the government noted that FGM/C rates remain high despite the prevalence statistics decreasing. In Djibouti, FGM/C is practiced more than child marriage despite Article 333 of the Penal Code criminalizing FGM/C and other forms of violence against women.

Djibouti co-sponsored the 2013 and 2015 Human Rights Council resolutions on child, early and forced marriage and signed a joint statement at the 2014 Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Djibouti 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, [KS1] and acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1998, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 1992 Djibouti ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage.

In 2005 Djibouti 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.

During its 2022 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the government to amend local legislation, particularly the Family code, to raise the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 years with no exceptions. The Committee also expressed concern at the prevalence of FGM/C and child marriage, particularly in rural areas, and urged the government to strengthen awareness-raising campaigns on combatting harmful practices.

During its 2013 Universal Periodic Review, Djibouti supported recommendations to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to eliminate harmful practices, including child marriage. It also agreed to examine recommendations to increase awareness and provide training to eliminate child marriage.

During its 2018 Universal Periodic Review, Djibouti agreed to examine recommendations to strengthen the implementation of legislation, policies and awareness raising campaigns aimed at ending harmful traditional practices, in particular child, early and forced marriages. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern that harmful practices such as FGM/C and child marriage were still taking place amongst rural and nomadic communities, despite the ban through the Family Code and the Criminal Code. The United Nations country team noted that more needed to be done in order to end the practice of child marriage but commended the commitment of the government by revising the Family Code.

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

In 2017, the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and Family Planning worked with women’s groups throughout Djibouti to protect the rights of girls, including the right to decide when and whom to marry, but it is unclear what this entailed.

In 2011, former government minister Hasna Barkat Daoud explained that child marriage prevention was being addressed through education.

According to Article 13 of the Family Code 2002, the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years. However, marriage is possible under 18 years if it is authorised by a guardian or (if the guardian refuses) by a judge.