Malawi: Listening to Children’s Voices in the Fight Against Child Marriage

On 16 January 2026, Ms Bridget Chauluma, a child rights advocate from Malawi, visited Kachanga Primary School to raise awareness about child marriage, its causes and consequences, and to encourage students to take a pledge against the practice.

Interestingly, the children who were engaged asked:

“Do boys also face child marriage?”

“Can a child return to school after marriage or pregnancy?”

“What if someone is already married, can they still be helped?”

These questions raised by the students shaped the conversation during the programme. The facilitator, Ms Chauluma, felt that these questions reflected the students’ lived realities, as, like in many other countries, child marriage in Malawi disproportionately affects girls. During the session, she reaffirmed that child marriage is a harmful practice and can affect anyone involved in it, irrespective of gender. She explained that the Government of Malawi is making strong efforts to end this practice at all levels.

Ms Chauluma also reiterated to the students that life does not end with child marriage. A person can exit such a situation and rebuild their life with dignity and choice. She emphasised the critical role of education, not only in helping girls rebuild their lives, but also in preventing child marriage and breaking its cycle of continuation.

As a result of these discussions, out of the 52 participants (50 students and 2 teachers), 46 students pledged against child marriage.

Sharing her experience of working with children, Ms Chauluma said:

“Change begins the moment a child realises that their voice can protect another child. Ending child marriage starts when children are empowered to believe that their dreams matter and that speaking up is not only their right, but their responsibility, because young people’s voices can influence policy and help create healthier, safer communities.”

Child Marriage in Malawi - Laws and Lives

• Malawi ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on 2nd January, 1991.

• The legislation on child marriage in Malawi is included in the Marriage, Divorce, and Family Relations Bill 2015, Constitution 2017. As per the law, the minimum age of marriage is 18 years. In 2017, the Parliament voted to amend the Constitution to make child marriage illegal and remove a provision that allowed children to marry at 15 with parental consent.

• Generally, it is an accepted fact that, child marriage disproportionately affects girls, but what about the boys?  In Malawi, 7% of men of the age 20 - 24 years were child grooms (MICS, 2020). 

• The Government of Malawi has a formal readmission policy that allows girls who drop out of school due to pregnancy to return to school after giving birth. Readmission also includes counselling, psychosocial support and remedial academic help to support the girl’s transition back into school (Human Rights Watch, 2023).