Child marriages denounced on the Day of the African Child

Junior MPs who visited the National Assembly on Tuesday demanded that girls and boys marry at age 18.

The tradition has been respected on Tuesday in the Chamber of the National Assembly, where 180 junior members from the ten regions of Cameroon took part in the 17th session of Parliament dedicated to them.

A plenary session that coincided with the celebration of the 25th edition of the Day of the African Child in Cameroon under the theme: "25 years after the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the child to accelerate our efforts to eliminate child marriages in Africa."

As usual, the President of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, chaired this session attended by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the Presidency in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, Amadou Ali representing the Prime Minister, Head of Government and members of the government and development partners.

The junior MPs discussed the crucial topics in the phase of oral questioning. Concerns led to the resolutions providing for the harmonization that boys and girls should marry at the age of 18 and not below. Marriage for boys should be from 18 years and girls at age 15, according to the law in Cameroon.

Among other topics discussed at this meeting is the issuance of the birth certificate and education of girls, etc.

On the birth certificate

It is the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (MINATD), René Emmanuel Sadi, who was questioned first by young Aurelien Ndjila Abiassi, Western MP. Asked about the actions of his department for access to the birth certificate for all children, René Emmanuel Sadi recalled the essential link between registration with the civil service and children.

"Without a birth certificate, children are held in hiding. Without a birth certificate, a minor girl is at risk of being married without the ability to give consent," he said. It is in this sense that the Minadt launched in 2010 a multi-year project to rehabilitate the civil state of Cameroon.

It aims to improve the recording rate, the service provided in the registration centers, the safety of birth and the establishment of a computerized civil registry file. Now the term given to families for the formalities of issuing the document is from 30 days after birth to 90 days.

In the same vein 46,800 records were distributed last year to allow officers and secretaries to have the necessary equipment. A regulatory instrument, the National Vital Statistics office, is being implemented.

The Minadt reiterated to the young MPs that the implementation of these reforms will continue to improve access to citizenship and well-being of children. He, moreover, challenged the social body to revise its customs to adapt to modernity for the children's interests.

On the reintegration of victims of child marriages

Faced with the desertion of school by girls and the problems of reintegration, the young Honourable Sorelle Makame of the Central Region has asked the Minister of Basic Education on the commitments made to address them.

Thus Benoit Ndong Soumhet, Secretary of State to the MINEDUB presented a picture of the commitments made to ensure a quality education without discrimination, with particular emphasis on vulnerable children. Thus the junior deputies were informed of the existence of literacy structures to educate school children to guide them in professional circuits.

"Numerous schools are created regularly to support the children. 12,500 primary schools were established in 2006 and 16,581 in 2014 with particular emphasis on teacher recruitment. 9000 are being recruited for the purpose of improving the supervision ratio. In addition, there are also the many awareness campaigns conducted through partners in families regarding the education of children and girls in particular."

After the sitting, the junior deputies expressed the wish to see their resolutions addressed so that children rights and duties are respected while promising to denounce all forms of violence.

The next sitting was scheduled for next year.