Dr. Yasmin Zaidi, Team Lead, Aawaz II, during her opening remarks said that Aawaz II works with local communities on behaviour change and enhanced awareness on the rights of marginalised including women, religious minorities, youth, transgender persons and persons with disabilities in 37 selected districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She emphasised that there are two aspects of child marriage one is legal and the other one is behaviour change. Aawaz II, recognises that it is the change in public behaviour that renders laws effective and instrumental in addressing the issues of child marriage, she added. Different studies and 2017 census suggest considerable decrease in child marriage cases in terms of numbers but still there is a need of massive awareness campaigns and Aawaz II various forums playing instrumental role in it.
Ms. Khawar Mumtaz, Chairperson Aawaz II Provincial Forum, who chaired the session highlighted that child marriage is a quite complex issue so we need to address this issue from various angles. Birth registration, effective law and awareness regarding the detrimental effects of child marriage should all be important elements of our advocacy initiatives.
Mr. Sarfaraz Kazmi, Technical Advisor at UNFPA in his presentation shared that child marriage robs girls of not only their childhood but future prospect as well. The risk of falling prey to domestic violence, abuse and compromised health and right to education are among the few effects that child marriage left on girls. Child marriage is also the major cause of infant and maternal mortality rate.
While speaking on the occasion, Ms. Saman Rai Director General, Population Welfare Department, shared how her department is focusing on child marriage by creating awareness and introducing various programmes. She emphasised that 22 million of our population are of marriageable age right now and therefore we need to devise effective strategies to address this population growth as there is an obvious mismatch between the population and the available resources.
Others who spoke includes Director, Local Government Punjab, Regional Director, Ministry of Human Rights, Ms. Robina Feroze Bhatti and Mr. Nazir Ahmad Ghazi.
To conclude the consultation session, Mr. Arshad Mahmood, the Head of Programme Delivery at Aawaz II, emphasised the significance of implementing preventive measures when addressing the issue of child marriage. He also highlighted that Aawaz II is actively engaged with communities, utilising various forums to provide comprehensive information and link them with relevant government structures through referrals/referral directories and citizens state engagement activities. These efforts aim to empower communities with the necessary resources and knowledge. At the end Ms. Javaria Ejaz Peace & Justice Network Punjab Provincial Lead thanked all the participants for joining and for taking the agenda forward through joint action.
Aawaz II aims to change behaviors’ and increase citizen-state engagement to promote a transformational change towards harmful practices of child marriage, gender-based violence, exclusion, exploitation and intolerance. The programme has reached over 30 million individuals with its interventions and communication campaigns on behaviour change.
Aawaz II programme of British Council is being implemented in selected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab with support from Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).