Malawi has outlawed child marriage after the much awaited Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Bill which has streamlined legislation on marriage and divorce, and also introduced a new marriage age of 18, was tabled and has been passed by MPs in the Parliament. Malawi had one of the lowest legal ages of marriage in Africa. […]
Malawi government has said as the National Assembly resumes sitting Monday to review the 2014/15 National Budget, it will table the Marriage Bill to increase legal marriage age from 14years to 18 in an effort to reduce one of the world’s highest rates of mothers death in childbirth. The government, according to Leader of the […]
Malawi’s Minister of Gender, Children, Social Welfare and Disabilities Patricia Kaliati has revealed that government has proposed 18 as the minimum marriage age for girls in the current review which is ready for Cabinet approval before it is taken to Parliament. Currently, the minimum age is at 13 with consent from parents or guardians. Kaliati […]
Malawi government authorities are called upon to work with haste to pass the Marriage Bill, which has been shelved at cabinet level since 2006. The call from Catholic Education Commission in Malawi (Cecom) of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) was made Thursday when the Malawi launching the ‘end child marriages campaign’. Cecom National Education Programme Coordinator Stephen Mgalileya […]
Nine-year-old Saneie Masilela of South Africa has become the world’s youngest groom for the second time after remarrying the 62-year-old woman he tied the knot with last year, according to reports. Dressed in a silvery tuxedo, baby-faced Saneie clutched the hand of mother-of-five Helen Shabangu – her children are aged between 28- and 38-years-old – as they […]
The Human Right Watch (HRW) has accused Malawi government of lacking seriousness in ending widespread child and forced marriage in the country. In its 69-page report, “I’ve Never Experienced Happiness’: Child Marriage in Malawi,” launched on Friday ahead of International Women’s Day to day Saturday March 8, the HRW documents how child marriage prevents girls […]
Senior Chiefs in Malawi want government to push through Parliament a bill that will make the marriage age to shift to 21 from 15 in order to rescue many girls who are being forced into early marriages. The senior chiefs spoke this at Sun and Sand Holiday Resort in Mangochi during a two day meeting […]
As pressure continues mounting on Malawi Government to revisit the laws that allow young girls to get married at the age of 16, hundreds of people have completed their week-long march aimed at raising awareness against the increasing cases of teen marriages and gender based violence. The marchers, who included chiefs, activists, businesspersons, among others, […]
Some parents are forcing girls to enter into marriage in Chinkhwawa district in the southern part of Malawi in exchange of a bale of sugar especially in the areas of Konzere and Phanda. This was learnt during the monitoring and evaluation on UNJPAG which was conducted by Youth Net and Counseling (Yoneco) with support from UNFPA. […]
Pressure Is mounting on Malawi government authorities to revisit the country’s laws that allow young girls to get married at the age of 16 and also allow them to marry at the age of 15 with parental consent. The latest pressure is from a local NGO Girl’s Empowerment Network (GENET) which has described the law […]
It has been revealed that girls in Malawi’s northern barder district of Karonga drop out of school and go into marriages due to natural disasters such as floods and earth quakes which happen in the district. This came to light during Circle Social Support by Pastors Fraternal organized by World Vision Malawi at Mwetete in which pastors from various […]
A group of adolescent girls will on June 27th, 2013 petition the President of the Republic of Malawi Joyce Banda on issues affecting them that includes child marriage age and safe motherhood. The girls led by two organizations namely Centre For Children’s Affairs Malawi and Girls Empowerment Network will present their concerns at a function which will […]
Malawi joined the rest of African countries on Sunday to mark the Day of the African Child with children caling on traditional leaders and the police to help stop cultural practices that affect their well-being. Some children, especially those in rural Malawi, face outrageous rituals that are critically harmful to health, including female genital mutilation […]
Malawi will settle for the Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) marriage age of 18 following consultations government through the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare embarked on to incorporate stakeholder’s views to determine the right minimum matrimonial age after parliament had settled for 16. In 2009 the country’s parliament amended Clause 9 in the […]
Some civil society leaders in Malawi are speaking against a bye-law introduced by traditional authority (TA) Chitera of Chiradzulu district barring her subjects under the age of 21 from getting married. According to Chitera the by-law is a form of reducing increased cases of early marriage in her area a situation she says has previously […]
DISTINGUISH BETWEEN WHAT IS GENERAL AND WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE CONSTITUTION I think that in our bid to protect our children we should be humble enough to know what constitutional content is and what is general law. Our Constitution cannot cover the general law or else it ceases to be the Constitution and becomes […]