Eritrea launches African Union campaign to end child marriage

On 11 June, Eritrea announced the launch of the African Union campaign to end child marriage. 41% of girls in Eritrea are married before the age of 18.

About the AU Campaign to End Child Marriage

Launched in May 2014, the AU Campaign to End Child Marriage aims to speed up change across Africa by encouraging governments to develop strategies to raise awareness of child marriage and address the harmful impact it has.

Specifically, it aims to:


Originally planned to last for two years, the campaign has now been extended to run until at least 2017. Fourteen countries Burkina Faso, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, The Gambia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe have launched the campaign so far, with more launches planned for later in the year and during 2017.

• Identify the socio-economic impact of child marriage
• Promote the effective implementation of AU legal and policy instruments and support policy action
• Remove barriers and bottlenecks to law enforcement
• Increase the capacity of non-state actors to undertake evidence-based policy advocacy

Note: this article was corrected on 4 August 2016. The Government of Eritrea has yet to launch a national strategy on child marriage.