Mozambique
Coligação para Eliminação dos Casamentos Prematuros (CECAP) - National Partnership to end child marriage.
Coligação para Eliminação dos Casamentos Prematuros (CECAP) is made up of more than 60 CSOs, from the local to the international level, working on advocacy, knowledge-sharing and research to address child marriage and premature unions in Mozambique. It was set up in 2013 and became an official Girls Not Brides National Partnership in July 2014. CECAP works with the government to ensure policies, laws and services are in place that support the rights of girls and young women. The Secretariat for CECAP is held by FDC (A Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Comunidade).
Girls Not Brides Members at the co-creation workshop in Mozambique in February 2024
“Our unity is our greatest strength. With a spirit of team work, partnership, and solidarity – even with limited funds – we are able to carry out activities and have an impact. We have been able to raise our voices and create more change across borders.”
Member of Girls Not Brides Mozambique
Sucesses
In July 2014, CECAP collaborated with the Ministry of Gender and Children Social Affairs to launch a national campaign to end child marriage and premature unions. In 2016, they played a significant role in the successful adoption of the National Strategy to Prevent and Combat Child Marriage and Premature Unions (available in Portuguese). They are also actively contributing to the development of national legislation to put into practice the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Model Law for the Eradication of Child Marriage and Protection of Children Already Married.
CECAP has developed a collective advocacy and communications strategy, which has helped members to improve their grassroots work to address the main drivers of child marriage and premature unions. The strategy, updated in 2024, has strengthened collaboration with key government ministries, religious leaders, initiation counsellors, young people and the media.
They co-authored a policy brief on child marriage and adolescent pregnancy in Mozambique with UNFPA and UNICEF. In Mozambique, the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage and Girls Not Brides are committed to enhancing civil society action towards ending child marriage and premature unions, and to advancing girls’ rights more broadly – including those of girls who are married or in a union. This project aims to enhance the capacity of CSOs working at the national level to systematically analyse and address the root causes of gender inequality across all levels, from the individual to the institutional, informed by evidence and experience and maximising their understanding of context.
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