Malawi

In Malawi, 38% of girls marry before age 18 and 8% marry before age 15.

7% of boys in Malawi are marry before age 18.

Child marriage is common among all ethnic groups, and across all three regions of Malawi, although rates are slightly higher in rural areas of southern Malawi. The highest rates of child marriage for women are found in the Sena ethnic group (15%), Yao and Lomwe (14%) and Ngoni (9%). The highest rates of child marriage for men are found in the Yao ethnic group (13%), Lomwe (12%), Sena (11%), Tonga (10%) and Ngoni (7%).

UN Women has identified hotspots for child marriage in the Karonga district in the Northern region, and Mulanje, Mangochi, Machimba and Zomba, in the Southern region. The highest rates of child marriage for women are in South region (46%), North region, (45%) and Central region (40%).

In Malawi, 52% of women who were married before the age of 18 have no or only pre-primary education, 52% primary education and 5% higher education.

The highest rates of child marriage for men are found in South region (12%), North region (8%), and Central (7%).

In Malawi, 16% of men who were married before the age of 18 have no or only pre-primary education, 12% primary education and 1% higher education.

A 2017 World Bank/ICRW study estimated that ending child marriage in Ethiopia could generate a 10% rise in earnings for women who married early, and up to USD 167 million in additional earnings and productivity for the whole country.

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

In Malawi, child marriage is also driven by:

● Poverty: Half of the population in Malawi live below the national poverty line. Some poorer families marry off their daughters to reduce their perceived financial burden or to offer them a better life. 48% of girls who were married before the age of 18 were from the poorest households and 30% from the richest households. Some girls are exchanged during Kupimbira – a form of debt repayment – in the northern part of the country. Human Rights Watch reports that some parents force their daughters to have sex with men in order to receive money or food.

● Harmful practices: The chinamwali or nsondo puberty rite of passage can act as a catalyst to child marriage. Among ethnic groups in northern Malawi, lobola – bride price – signifies the creation of an alliance between families, and representatives from both sides negotiate the terms of a marriage through a mediator. Human Rights Watch reports that some girls are thrown out of their homes if they refuse to marry.

● Adolescent pregnancy: Malawi’s traditions and patriarchal culture encourage early sexual initiation, while renounces pregnancy outside of matrimony. In a 2017 ICRW study, 87% of respondents said that child marriage happens because of pregnancy and 93% agreed that unmarried girls who get pregnant are “naughty”. The “defilement” or rape of a girls can also initiate a child marriage, particularly when the sexual abuse results in pregnancy. Girls are married off to avoid bringing dishonour to their families. One traditional leader was quoted saying that unmarried pregnant girls are labelled as “disabled”.

● Limited awareness: Many girls in Malawi do not know their rights under the law or where to look for assistance when faced with child marriage. A 2017 study shows that only 8% of girls in Malawi are able to list at least three harmful effects of child marriage.

● Lack of opportunities: In a 2017 ICRW study, 77% of respondents said that child marriage happens in Malawi because of a lack of education or job opportunities for girls. Girls may see early marriage as a way out of poverty or violent family situations.

● Education: A 2015 shadow report to CEDAW highlights that schools with a lack of boarding facilities force some girls to self-board in nearby houses, where they sometimes end up marrying men in exchange for money.

Malawi 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. The government highlighted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, school closures exacerbated child marriages and adolescent pregnancies in Malawi. The government raised that along with key stakeholders, they are partnering with local communities to strengthen child protection and end harmful practices such as child marriage. This is being done by increasing the number of child protection services across the country, the creation of victim support groups, child-friendly safe spaces, child rights and life skills education and psychosocial support.

The government submitted a Voluntary National Review at the 2020 High Level Political Forum. The government highlighted that child marriage is still a challenge in the country. Through the National Statistical Office, the Government of Malawi has conducted the first-ever national prevalence survey on harmful practices as important evidence to inform interventions to address structural issues that impact on the implementation of child-related SDGs, sexual and reproductive health, early marriage and initiation ceremonies.

In the 2020 Voluntary National Review, the government raised that as Spotlight Initiative country, the government is working towards improving gender equality, violence prevention and policy framework in the country on violence against women and girls and harmful cultural practices. The Initiative is supporting the review of five specific laws and policies including:

The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act

The Marriage Divorce and Family Relations Act

The Child Care, Protection and Justice Act

The Gender Equality Act

The Penal Code

Malawi co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: 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, Malawi also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Malawi co-sponsored the 2013,2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

Malawi acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, 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 1987, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2017, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged Malawi to take all measures necessary to eliminate child marriages, including by developing comprehensive awareness-raising campaigns and programmes on the harmful effects of child marriage and providing appropriate financial resources.

During its 2020 Universal Periodic Review, the Ministry of Gender, Disability, and Social Welfare adopted the National Strategy on Ending Child Marriages 2018-2023. By December 2018, for children between the ages of 12 and 14, there were 4228 reported cases of child marriage. Of these children, 1,678 children were married before the age of 12, 1,337 married before the age of 13, and 1,213 before the age of 14.

During its 2015 Universal Periodic Review, Malawi supported recommendations to ensure successful implementation of strategies and legal reforms to end child marriage.

In 1999 Malawi ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage. In 2005 Malawi ratified 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.

In 2014, Malawi launched the African Union Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa.

Malawi 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.

In 2019, at the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, the Government of Malawi committed to ending child marriage and delaying first pregnancy among girls (10-19 years) by 2030, by effectively enforcing laws, coordinating policy making, and promoting national prevention awareness and advocacy campaigns as part of a wider programme to target all forms of violence against women, girls and boys.

Malawi is one of the countries where the Spotlight Initiative (a global, multi-year partnership between European Union and United Nations) is supporting efforts to end all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls. Combating child marriage is one of the key focus areas of the Spotlight Initiative in Malawi. Between 2019 – 2020, the European Union invested $28 million USD. The funds were distributed as follows:

Policy: Reviewing specific policies such as laws on sexual and reproductive rights policy, child policy, the prevention of domestic violence act and advocate for legislative reforms to raise the legal minimum age of marriage from 15 to 18.

Institution: Institutions such as the Malawi Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman will receive support to deliver evidence-based programmes that prevent and respond to violence against women and girls and harmful practices.

Prevention: Establishment of a strategic intervention to prevent harmful practices and transform gender social norms that perpetrate violence against women and girls by providing comprehensive sexuality education, which includes girls’ empowerment and boys’ transformation programmes.

Data: Collect, analyse and use high-quality globally comparable data on different forms of violence against women and girls and harmful practices. The Initiative aims to assess, monitor and advocate for the registration of children under the age of 16 to track and prevent child marriages.

Women’s movement and civil society: Supporting women’s and youth civil society organizations to influence and advance progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Malawi is also 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.

At the London Girl Summit in July 2014, the government signed a charter committing to end child marriage by 2020.

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

The Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare launched a gender-transformative National Male Engagement Strategy for Gender Equality, Gender-Based Violence, HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (2023-2030). This strategy was developed to encourage meaningful engagement of men and boys in recognizing gender equality, encouraging positive gender socialisation and reinforcement and eliminating sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices. It seeks to engage men and boys in understanding how power dynamics between men and women impacts women’s lives.

In March 2018, First Lady Gertrude Mutharika urged all Malawians to be part of the solution to end child marriage.

The Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare and the Bantwana Initiative of World Education launched the National Strategy on Ending Child Marriage 2018-2023 to provide a framework for interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence of child marriage in Malawi by 20% by 2023. Since launching the national strategy, stakeholders have intensified interventions to end child marriage through prevention strategies, support services and the creation of an enabling legal and policy environment to end child marriage.

In 2018, the Government of Malawi launched the Strategy of Adolescent Girls and Young Women, developed with support of UNICEF and public and private stakeholders. The strategy has a holistic and multi-sectoral approach to empower girls and young women, and improve their health, education, gender equality, and economic empowerment outcomes. Adolescent mothers are among the identified group of vulnerable adolescents.

The National Plan of Action for Vulnerable Children in Malawi identifies child marriage as an effect of vulnerability. It calls for measures to protect children from being married off and envisions activities to raise awareness in the communities.

The National Plan of Action to Combat Gender-Based Violence in Malawi 2014-2020 includes several targets related to child marriage, including producing and disseminating local language awareness-raising materials and supporting traditional leaders to end child marriage.

Traditional leaders play a key role in ending harmful cultural practices such as child marriage. Senior Chief Theresa Kachindamoto, a prominent Ngoni Chief in the Central region of Malawi, has been a vocal advocate on the issue of child marriage and has contributed to the achievement of legislative changes. During her chieftainship, Chief Theresa has annulled more than 2500 child marriages.

Plan International and Malawian young people have been working with a taskforce of government bodies, advocates, traditional authorities, religious leaders and teachers calling for Malawi’s constitution to be reformed. In 2016, young campaigners presented the First Lady of Malawi with a petition signed by people from over 30 countries.

Under the Constitution and the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Bill No. 5 (2015), the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years with no exceptions.

In 2017, the Parliament voted to amend the Constitution to make child marriage illegal and remove a provision that allowed children to marry at 15 with parental consent.