Decision on Ending Child Marriage in Africa – Doc. Assembly/AU/10(XXIX)

DECISION ON ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE IN AFRICA

Doc. Assembly/AU/10(XXIX)

The Assembly,

1. TAKES NOTE with appreciation the Progress Report and Recommendations on the Common African Position on Ending Child Marriage in Africa presented by His Excellency Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia and Continental Champion on Ending Child Marriage in Africa;

2. COMMENDS all the Member States of the African Union that have launched the African Union Campaign on Ending Child Marriage in their countries and urge those that have not launched the Campaign, to do so;

3. URGES all Member States, to fully implement legal instruments that empower the girl child, to integrate activities and programmes on the girl child in national development frameworks and to allocate adequate budgetary provisions;

4. URGES Member States to commit to keeping the girl child in school up to tertiary level, regardless of their status, mindful of the potential contribution of girls to economic development;

5. FURTHER URGES Member States who have not done so, to specify the minimum age of marriage in line with the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women and to enact appropriate national legislative measures to guarantee that every marriage shall be recorded in writing and registered in accordance with national laws, in order to be legally recognised;

6. STRONGLY CONDEMNS the abduction and forcible marriages of young girls particularly in conflict situations and commit to prosecute the perpetrators of these vices;

7. REQUESTS His Excellency the Champion on Ending Child Marriage in Africa, to keep the matter under active consideration and present a Progress Report at the 31^st Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July, 2018.