Yoneco rescues 24 girls from child marriages in Mchinji

Youth Net and Counselling (Yoneco) says it has ended 24 marriages involving young girls below the age of 18 in Traditional Authority Zulu (T/A) in Mchinji in the past six months.

Speaking in an interview last week, Mchinji Yoneco district manager Hughes Munthali said the exercise was done in consultation with policymakers, through community mobilisation.

He said Mchinji remains one of the districts in Malawi with high cases of child marriages due to high poverty levels.

“Ending child marriages needs concerted efforts from all stakeholders. Yoneco has noted that child marriages are not in T/A Zulu alone but the entire district,” he said.

Mchinji district social welfare officer Rodwell Chunga said it is worrisome that child marriages and early pregnancies are rampant in the district despite efforts by several organisations to eradicate them.

He said there was need to enforce by-laws aimed at protecting children from gender-based violence.

Yoneco is implementing a project called Marriage Not Child’s Play in T/A Zulu and it seeks to eradicate early marriages in the district.