Project profile — Combatting Early Marriage in Bangladesh

• Bangladesh (100.00%)

• Population Policies/Programmes And Reproductive Health: Population policy and administrative management (13010) (50.00%)
• Government And Civil Society, General: Ending violence against women and girls (15180) (50.00%)

• Gender equality (principal objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (significant objective)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

This project aims to reduce child, early and forced marriage in the Bhola and Jhalokati districts of Bangladesh. It also aims to reduce the vulnerability and poverty of adolescents in these two districts with a focus on reducing the proportion of girls under 18 years of age that are married. Bangladesh has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world. Approximately 52% of girls in Bangladesh are married by their 18th birthday, and 18% by the age of 15. Bhola and Jhalokati districts are among the poorest districts in Bangladesh and have the highest rates of child marriage in the country. Project activities include: (1) raising awareness and engaging adolescents, especially girls, in life skills education such as financial literacy and vocational abilities; (2) mobilizing community stakeholders by encouraging open, inclusive and informed discussions on the harmful impact of child marriage; and (3) strengthening existing child protection mechanisms.

The expected outcomes for this project include : (1) increased agency of adolescent girls and boys to protect themselves from harmful gender norms and practices, including child, early and forced marriage, and exercise choice in economic opportunities and decisions about their futures; (2) improved community acceptance of norms that value girls and actions that support delayed marriage; and (3) increased responsiveness of duty-bearers (such as matchmakers and marriage registrars) at national and sub-national levels to prevent and respond to child rights violations.

Results achieved as of March 2023 include: (1) trained 8,000 adolescent students on life skills, gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and combatting child marriages; (2) trained 1,760 secondary school teachers on gender equity and adolescent SRHR to effectively teach their students about these topics; (3) trained 71,729 students from 440 schools and madrasas (Islamic religious schools) on gender equity and adolescent SRHR; (4) 80,108 parents (40,144 fathers and 39,964 mothers) participated in group sessions aimed at changing attitudes and norms around gender equity and combatting child marriages; (5) trained 1,358 matchmakers and individuals involved in registering marriages on existing laws against child marriages, leading to increased awareness of gender equality, girls’ rights and harmful social norms; and (6) the community celebrated 527 girl child births. Before the project, the birth of a girl was not a cause for celebration.

• Proactive disclosure