Enduring More Agency and Community Surveillance Support to Reduce Child marriage in Bangladesh

PROJECT BRIEF

Funding authority

Grand Challenge Canada(GCC)

Project Investigators

1. Dr. Abu S, Shonchoy, Florida International University, USA.

2. Dr. Zaki Wahhaz, University of Kent, UK.

Project Duration

3.5 years.

Project Period

January 2020 – June 2023

Details

Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of female child marriage in the world with 2 in 3 girls marrying before 18. It occurs most frequently in poor rural households where girls are often undernourished. This physical condition, coupled with early childbirth, creates the risk of premature birth and neonatal (or infant) death. Early childbearing in poor households is also associated with infant malnourishment and higher total fertility, which can create long-term poverty traps. 

An opinion exchange meeting on "Child Marriage" organized by MOMODa at DC office of Gaibandha, Bangladesh.

MOMODa FOUNDATION proposed using digital technologies to enhance the enforcement of child marriage laws in rural areas of Bangladesh. MOMODa aim to achieve this by-

I. Ensuring universal birth registration of girls within a target group (aged 14-17); and

II. Developing mobile phone-based surveillance and reporting –connecting enforcing agencies with potential victims and reliable data on birth dates-to limit the practice of child marriage in Bangladesh. 

MOMODa FOUNDATION and researchers from Florida International University and Kent University by the donation of Grand Challenge Canada (GCC) have been registered the target girl’s birth registration as Central Birth registration Server of Bangladesh.

A training session at MOMODa project office, Gaibandha on the project understanding.

The project specific components are: 
1. Increase 50% birth registration of unmarried adolescent girls in treatment communities;
2. Increase 75% awareness of a national helpline for reporting child marriage cases among guardians in treatment communities; and
3. A lower child marriage rate (specifically marriage below the age of 18) in the treatment communities compared to the control communities at endline by 30%.

Baseline survey going on

MOMODa FOUNDATION has previous experiences in against early child marriage project implementation in Bangladesh with the collaboration of international academic and research institutions, and local non-governmental organizations. It has links with other organizations in Bangladesh tackling child marriage and interest in using birth registration information for this purpose, including BRAC Plan International, and the government’s Access to Information program. 






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