Back to life: Support for Young Mothers and Girls after Forced and Early Marriage 

Reintegration of underage mothers and young girls who have experienced early or forced marriage.

In various parts of Cameroon, many girls are forced into marriage. Reasons include harmful traditional practices as well as poverty. In this context, the rights of girls are often ignored: early marriage not only removes them from school, but also makes them financially and socially dependent on their husbands. When they decide to separate—and manage to do so—they usually find themselves entirely on their own.

The project supports affected girls in becoming self-reliant through basic education or vocational training. Depending on each girl’s situation, she is supported in her reintegration into her family so she can develop in a safe environment. Traditional and religious leaders, who often enforce early marriage, as well as different population groups, are sensitised to the situation of these girls in order to promote a change in mindset.

Overall objective (Impact):

In the departments of Noun and Vina, underage mothers and girls from early marriage lead self-determined lives and find a benevolent environment.

Project objective (Outcome):

1,600 underage mothers and girls from early marriage, together with 30 community leaders, actively claim their rights, use the services created by the project, and effectively engage in preventing sexual violence and early marriage in their communities.

Specific objectives (Output):

1. Community members are empowered to identify cases of sexual violence and early marriage and to report them to the authorities.
2. Underage mothers and girls from early marriage have access to an effective legal and institutional framework against the impunity of perpetrators of violence.
3. Underage mothers and girls from early marriage find a supportive environment in their communities on which they can rely for their reintegration and long-term rehabilitation.

• 1,200 young mothers under 18
• 400 girls under 21 who escaped early or forced marriage
• 30 religious and traditional leaders
• 30 parents of the affected girls
• 1,200 pilot families
• 30 adolescents and young adults as multipliers in sexual education and reproductive health
• 90 boys participating in the “being a different kind of boy” programme
• 30 leaders of decentralised state bodies in child protection (administration staff, local decision-makers, actors in the criminal justice chain, community leaders)
• 40 actors in the criminal justice system, including 10 women (lawyers, judges, police officers, doctors, social workers)
• 64 staff members from 20 NGOs
• 45 community representatives
• 3 literacy teachers
• 20 radio hosts

Project cost: €633,500

Financial partners:

• German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• Own funds of Kinderrechte Afrika e. V., i.e. donations

Cover image: A young mother was able, with project support, to begin vocational training that offers a perspective for her and her young child.