Rina: Govt committed to addressing child marriage

 

The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government is committed to addressing the problem of child marriage, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun.

She said this at the launch of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund’s (Unicef) advocacy brief on ending child marriage, which was aired on Facebook.

The advocacy brief was to support the six-year National Strategy Plan in Handling the Causes of Child Marriage which was put together by the Pakatan Harapan government in January 2020.

Despite a change in government, Rina said her ministry’s position is that children should always be allowed to develop their full potential.

“Any activities that might hinder their development, particularly in terms of education and health, should be minimised so that they can pursue a better future,” she added.

Rina noted that studies have shown child marriage can have serious long term consequences on children's health, educational and economic opportunities.

“In Malaysia, an average of 1,500 children from various religion, ethnicity or community marry every year.

“This practice happens in both urban and rural areas, Muslim and non-Muslims, Orang Asli or native people and even amongst migrant and refugee communities,” she said.

Rina said the National Strategy Plan in Handling the Causes of Child Marriage outlines ways to address the various risk that drive child marriage.

This often involved children living in poverty, lack access to sexual reproductive health education or parenting, lack access to education, cultural norms and laws that facilitate marriage under 18.

She added that the national plan will also see the systematic collection of data as well as analysis and reporting to enable effective targeting of children who need support and protection.

Rina, in her speech, acknowledged the importance of Unicef’s advocacy brief to support the implementation of the National Strategy Plan.

“Changing laws alone will not end child marriage; conditions, attitudes and behaviour must also change.

“Child marriage is deeply rooted in society, and economic circumstances, which makes it very difficult for individuals or families, to end the practice.

“Today’s launch provides an opportunity for the government and all stakeholders to renew our commitment to addressing child marriage together through the implementation of the National Strategy Plan and other complementary efforts,” she said.

The advocacy brief is a product of multi-stakeholder engagements based on evidence generated in Unicef’s 2018 working paper titled “Child marriage in Malaysia” and other resources.

 - Mkini