Executive Summary
WRAPA in the last seven months has implemented a project Connecting Voices Against Child Marriage in Nigeria, supported by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in three Local Government Areas (LGAs), namely; Batagarawa, Charanchi and Kankia. Involving; Ajiwa, Dandangoro; Koda, Kuraye; Rimaye and Tafashiya communities respectively in the three LGAs of Katsina State, Nigeria.
The project which aimed at amplifying the associated concerns and practice of child marriage, gender-based violence (GBV), and harmful practices, adopted a multifaceted approach across various communities. Surpassing the intended outcome figures, a total of 1,055,268 comprising 578,565 females and 476,703 males were reached during the six-month project implementation cycle. The figures are also a buildup of physical and online reach three quarters with 184 in quarter one, 872 in quarter two, and 1,054,212 in quarter three as the data in tables 0.1 to 0.3 shows. The intervention empowered thirty-six 36 Youth Champions, and expanded its reach through U-reports, with the additional support of key social media influencers achieving an appreciable presence and following on the subject matter of child marriage. The strategy adopted, also included high-level in-person advocacy, and campaigns, aided by knowledge and community toolkits. This increased community awareness and understanding of the repercussions of child marriage. Most critically, it empowered child marriage survivors who shared their experiences thereby generating legitimacy for the demand to end the practice.
The conclusion of the report underscores the transformative impact of the WRAPA intervention and community change agents emphasising the need for sustained bottom-up advocacy, and sensitization also targeting traditional governance structures, as well. There is also a need for continuous recruitment and training of the youth champions. The annexures to the report offer additional insights, including innovative practices, human interest stories, testimonials, challenges, lessons learned, and a photo book. Human stories from Dandagoro and Tafashiya communities highlight how the project empowered individuals like Buhari A’ddau and Mufida Kabir and fostered community conversations leading to potential shifts and attitudinal changes. The testimonials from these project beneficiaries, including Tenniola Balogun and Salihu Ibrahim, offer firsthand accounts of the profound impact of the project in scaling up awareness and engendering commitment to social and practice changes. Overall, the report presents the project results, opportunities, challenges, and recommendations, underscoring the nuanced and dynamic drivers and barriers to reducing or eliminating child marriage and other harmful practices in Nigeria.
Table 0.1.
| QUARTER ONE DISAGGREGATED DATA | ||||||||
| S/NO | LGA | MEETING METHODOLOGY | FEMALE | MALE | TOTAL | |||
| 1 | In-Person | 59 | 125 | 184 | ||||
| Young | Adult | Young | Adult | |||||
| Local Government Area Disaggregated | ||||||||
| 2. | Batagarawa | In-Person | 20 | 22 | 44 | |||
| 3 | Charanchi | In-Person | 18 | 34 | 52 | |||
| 4 | Kankia | In-Person | 19 | 23 | 42 | |||
LGAs specific participants were 138 while 48 participants were not project-specific communities but distributed across other indirect project beneficiaries being WRAPA field staff, Consultants and experts, goods and service vendors, MDAs from Katsina State and other community structure participants particularly leaders of faith and culture, youth and women’s groups and UNICEF staff.
Table 0.2.
| QUARTER TWO DISAGGREGATED DATA | ||||||||
| S/NO | LGA | MEETING METHODOLOGY | FEMALE | MALE | TOTAL | |||
| 1 | In-Person/Virtual | 387 | 485 | 872 | ||||
| Young | Adult | Young | Adult | |||||
| 2 | 230 | 157 | 182 | 303 | 872 | |||
| Local Government Area Disaggregated | ||||||||
| 3 | Batagarawa | In-Person/Virtual | 72 | 26 | 83 | 115 | 296 | |
| 4 | Charanchi | In-Person/Virtual | 56 | 8 | 41 | 18 | 123 | |
| 5 | Kankia | In-Person/Virtual | 102 | 26 | 58 | 88 | 274 | |
| TOTAL | 693 | |||||||
LGAs-specific participants were 693 while 179 participants were not project-specific communities but distributed, online, WRAPA staff, Consultants and experts, MDAs from Katsina States and other community structure participants, particularly leaders of faith and culture, youth and women’s groups and UNICEF staff.
Table 0.3.
QUARTER THREE DISAGGREGATED DATA
| S/NO | LGA | MEETING METHODOLOGY | FEMALE | MALE | TOTAL | ||
| 1 | In-Person/Virtual | 578,119 | 476,093 | 1,054,212 | |||
| Young | Adult | Young | Adult | ||||
| 2 | |||||||
| Local Government Area Disaggregated Data | |||||||
| 3 | Batagarawa | In-Person | 6 | 6 | 12 | ||
| 4 | Charanchi | In-Person | 5 | 6 | 11 | ||
| 5 | Kankia | In-Person | 6 | 6 | 12 | ||
| Other engagement | Online | 58 | 58 | 116 | |||
| TOTAL | |||||||
Table 0. 3.1
ONLINE (Social Media) DISAGGREGATED DATA
| GENDER | X (Tweeter) | TOTAL | ||
| Female | 469966 | 102117 | 5951 | 578,034 |
| Male | 389204 | 57474 | 29332 | 476,010 |
| TOTAL | 859170 | 159591 | 35283 | 1,054,044 |
- Introduction:
Nigeria faces the third-highest global burden of child brides, trailing behind India and Bangladesh, with nearly 22 million girls married or in union before turning 18. This alarming prevalence contributes significantly to socio-economic challenges in northern Nigeria, manifesting in school dropouts, adolescent pregnancies, high maternal mortality, and malnutrition. Although there has been a 14%-point decrease in child marriage prevalence over the past five years, the recent MICS 2021 reveals a persistent concern. Katsina State, in Northwest Nigeria, stands out with a high prevalence, emphasising the urgency of addressing the legal gap in the state’s Child Protection Law, which currently lacks a prescribed legal age for marriage. Despite Nigeria’s commitment to ending child marriage by 2030, challenges persist, necessitating a closer examination of legal frameworks and cultural sensitivities surrounding this complex issue.
It is against this background that WRAPA supported by UNICEF has over seven months (June to December 2023), implemented a project titled Connecting Voices Against Child Marriage in Nigeria, supported by UNICEF in three Local Government Areas (LGAs), namely; Batagarawa, Charanchi and Kankia and covering; Ajiwa, Dandangoro; Koda, Kuraye; Rimaye and Tafashiya communities in the three LGAs of Katsina State, Nigeria.
The project’s main objective was to amplify and address the pressing issues of the impact of child marriage, gender-based violence (GBV), and harmful practices. This was conducted through a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach that included deliberate recruitment and training of thirty-six (36), eighteen (18) female and eighteen (18) male Youth Champions in advocacy, social media sensitization, and reporting. The project empowered community stakeholders, engaged key influencers, and improved awareness that has fostered positive shifts and changes in attitudes and behaviours related to these issues. Additionally, WRAPA End to Child Marriage activities have strengthened linkages between existing partners and established new community institutional mechanisms, especially among youth groups, scaling up numbers and scope of collaborative actions and voices against child marriage, GBV, violence against women and children (VAWC), as well as harmful practices in the targeted project communities.
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Final WRAPA-UNICEF CONNECTING VOICES AGAINST CHILD MARRIAGE PROJECT 2023.docx
