November 2016 Roundup
Religious Leaders Workshop in Nepal – November 28-29th
The objective of the event was to provide participants with a common understanding around Child, Early, and Forced Marriage (CEFM) and to mobilize religious leaders to promote adolescent empowerment. It also celebrated the positive practices of religious leaders that contribute to adolescent empowerment in their community.
Partners’ Meeting, Kathmandu – November 16th
The objective of the meeting was to discuss how we can collectively work to address the issues of CEFM. Topics discussed included: what collaborative activities can be conducted, how collective expertise can be utilized, how issues can be promoted, and what donors should understand when they work in Nepal.
Donor Visit to Nepal – November 11-16th
Dena Kimbal, the executive director of the Kendeda Fund, travelled to Nepal where she met with partner and CARE teams, visited several project communities, interacted with girls and boys from adolescent groups, and discussed with community leaders who have been advocating for adolescent girls’ right and against CEFM.
https://caretippingpoint.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/re-examining-the-value-of-girls.pdf
Population Council Workshop on Evidence Based Scaling Up of Programs for Child Marriage – November 3-4th
Suniti Neogy represented CARE at this workshop. The presentations illuminated that all represented organizations; BLAST, SAVE, SOLID, SIMAVI, AJWS, PSTC, UNICEF, mPower, Population Council, and CARE; have similar interventions.
GNB Update, Child Marriage Restraint Act (Bangladesh)
The new legislation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act includes a provision allowing child marriage in ‘special cases’, such as if a girl becomes pregnant accidentally or illegally. However, these ‘special’ cases are not specified and the language is quite broad. So far, Girls Not Brides Bangladesh, the National Girls Coalition, UN agencies and many other alliances/networks in the country have been mobilizing and taking action through petitions, letters to the minister, and a protest rally outside the Press Club in Dhaka on November 29th.
Center for Global Development Meeting Take-Aways
CGD sponsored a meeting entitled “Beyond Aid Approaches to Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment: What Works and How to Measure It”.
http://www.womeneconroadmap.org/sites/default/files/Sustained-Effects-Economic-Empowerment.pdf
http://www.popcouncil.org/research/the-shrinking-world-of-girls-at-puberty-violence-and-gender-divergent-acces
Blog Post: “Child Marriage: What do social norms have to do with it?” http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/child-marriage-social-norms/