Girls Parliament to end child marriage in Uganda

Greetings friends of SCOEN,

We are delighted to share with you the progress and impact of Girls Parliament  aimed at addressing violence against children, which often leads to school dropouts and perpetuates the cycle of early child marriages. Your continued support has been instrumental in enabling us to combat these critical issues and safeguard the rights and well-being of children in Uganda.

Violence against children, particularly within the school environment, remains a significant barrier to education and a key driver of school dropouts, particularly among girls. Tragically, many of these girls are forced into early marriages, robbing them of their childhoods and denying them the opportunity to fulfill their potential. SCOEN recognizes the urgent need to break this cycle of violence and exploitation to ensure that every child can access quality education and lead a life of dignity.

Over the reporting period, we have implemented a range of targeted interventions to address violence against children and its link to school dropouts and early child marriages:

We conducted capacity-building workshops for teachers and school administrators on child protection policies, early warning signs of violence, and effective intervention strategies.

We engaged with parents, community leaders, and religious institutions to raise awareness about the harmful effects of violence against children and the importance of education in preventing early marriages.

We organized community dialogues and awareness campaigns to challenge harmful social norms and traditional practices that perpetuate violence and child marriages.

We established safe spaces and support centers within communities to provide counseling, legal assistance, and access to essential services for children at risk of or affected by violence and early marriages.

We collaborated with local partners to develop economic empowerment programs aimed at providing alternative opportunities for vulnerable children, thereby reducing their vulnerability to exploitation and early marriages.

Through our concerted efforts, we have achieved significant impact:

Reduced incidents of violence in schools and communities, leading to improved school retention rates and decreased dropout rates among vulnerable children, particularly girls.

Empowered children with knowledge, skills, and confidence to recognize and report instances of violence, seek support, and advocate for their rights within their communities.

Strengthened partnerships with schools, communities, and relevant stakeholders to create a protective environment for children and promote positive social norms that reject violence and child marriages.

Despite our progress, challenges remain, including resource constraints, entrenched cultural beliefs, and systemic barriers to education. To address these challenges and sustain our impact, we recommend:

Continued investment in evidence-based interventions that address the root causes of violence against children and provide comprehensive support to vulnerable children and families.

Contunied to strengthen our partnerships with government agencies, NGOs, and community-based organizations to scale up interventions and ensure their sustainability.

Our next plans that still require you support are as follows: -

• Conduct 16 community dialogues through which girls engaged with key stakeholders like police and child protection unit, political as community advocacy to end child marriage in the communities at sub county and district level.
• Trained more new 70 girls to lead the Girls parliament, and 285 Adolescent girls and young women 13-24 years and participate in the Girls parliament
• Conduct Sexual Reproductive Health Right and Gender Based Violence mentoring and role modelling sessions for in 5 schools and 5 communities through debates, poetry and MDD reaching 210 Adolescent girls and young women.
• Conduct training of more new 25 trainers of peer educators on Life skills based Comprehensive sexuality education who will the conduct peer educations on Life skills based Comprehensive sexuality education sessions for 520 girls and 304 boys