‘Make it 18’ – a report on Community Voices on Child Marriage Reform in Solomon Islands, was officially handed over to the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs (MJLA) last week.
The brief event was held on Thursday at the Honiara Hotel Skyboard Conference Room.
The report is part of the Solomon Islands Endim Vaelens Agenstim Pikinini (SIEVAP) Project 2022-2025.
The project is a joint initiative between both New Zealand and Solomon Islands agencies of Save the Children, World Vision and ChildFund.
It is to ensure all children in Solomon Islands have the right to be protected against child marriage.
The report stated that Child marriage is expressly prohibited under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) protects children from the practice of child marriage and its harmful consequences.
Despite these international protections, child marriage is legal in Solomon Islands.
Under the Islanders’ Marriage Act 1945 (the Act), children as young as 15 years of age are able to marry with parental consent.
Additionally, children can be married in accordance with customary law, which provides no minimum marriage age.
Because of these legal loopholes, 21% of girls and 4% of boys in Solomon Islands are married before the age of 15.
Save the Children, ChildFund and World Vision contributed to the Solomon Islands Government effort through the Solomon Islands Law Reform Commission to inquire into whether the Act is consistent with the Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and recommend any changes to the law.
In the report, through consultations, children, youth, parents, caregivers, and faith and community leaders expressed clear support for changing the law to raise the minimum age to 18, including for customary marriages.
Speaking at the handover ceremony last week, New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner, Ms. Rebecca Williams recognized the hard work of the implementing agencies with all the children who have participated in the project and developing the report, stating their work in keeping children safe and advocating for change, changes that can empower children.
She said, children and young people of Solomon Islands are the country’s greatest sources of strength.
“So, we know that supporting this group to be safe and to harness their full potential as future leaders and innovators is essential for a more stable, resilient and inclusive Solomon Islands,” she said.
“All children and young people deserve to grow up with a chance to reach their full potential.
“We know that girls and boys who get married young are less likely to stay in schools and less likely to fulfil their full economic potential.
“I would like to also not that this report is really a great example of the value of all the voices feeding into knowledge and into policy decisions,” Ms. Williams said.
She added that SIEVAP has shown the collective strength of children as advocates and that New Zealand is honored to support this work.
SIEVAP project is implemented in Honiara City, Malaita and Western Provinces. It is implemented at the community through to government and policy levels to share learnings and raise voices together to jointly influence systematic change and seek a demonstrable impact on ending violence against children in the Solomon Islands.
This is achieved through:
- Increasing children’s participation in society as agents of change and advocates of ending violence against children.
- Supporting families and communities project children from all forms of violence, respond to, and address child protection issues.
- Working closely with Solomon Islands Government on policy and legislative reforms to protect children from all forms of violence.
By AGNES MENANOPO
Solomon Star, Honiara
