Safe Age of Marriage Programme

This initiative is based on interpersonal communication. To begin, organisers selected and trained 20 male and 20 female volunteer community educators, including religious leaders and nurse midwives. In February 2009, the community educators attended a 6-day participatory training workshop to conduct outreach educational activities with families in their communities. Using interactive training, the workshop challenged participants to re-examine socio-cultural and religious norms and practices related to child marriage. In October 2009, the community educators attended a 4-day refresher training to strengthen their facilitation skills and expand their knowledge on Islam's perspectives on child marriage, education, and family planning, as well as the emotional/psychological consequences of child marriage.

Each community educator was responsible for holding a minimum of 4 awareness-raising sessions per month, using a range of techniques, such as discussions, role-plays, storytelling, poetry recitations, and debates. The sessions were held in schools, literacy classes, health centres, mosques, YWU branches, and during other social gatherings. The community educators also organised and held monthly fairs, where BHS's mobile clinic was present to provide family planning, reproductive health, and maternal and child health services to mothers and children. Some health fairs featured speakers such as the governor, representatives from the Ministry of Public Health and Population, the Ministry of Education, and religious leaders. In addition, community educators set up information booths and showed a local movie about a Yemeni girl who was married off at a young age and died in labour. The movie was followed by a discussion facilitated by the community educators on the consequences of child marriage.

They were also involved in development and distribution of: 4 newsletters, a brochure, and 3 radio messages (aired 3 times daily for 4 months).

The strategy of awards and recognition is demonstrated in the following activities:

• The community educators worked with the YWU coordinators to engage 9- to 15-year-old students to develop and perform school plays on the health and social consequences of early marriage and to launch a magazine competition between 20 schools. Students submitted stories, poems, and caricatures on the social and health consequences of child marriage and the importance of completing high school education. Copies of the winning magazine were distributed to community members.
• The community educators were involved in the selection of 10 model families who not only delayed the marriage of their daughters but ensured that they completed 12th grade. These families were awarded a plaque for their role during the end-of-project ceremony officiated by the Amran governor.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs in Amran asked all religious leaders to disseminate messages on the health and social consequences of child marriage in their Friday sermons. Meanwhile, community members began mobilising to build a girls' school and hire female teachers, nominating a female community educator to become a school principal.

Girls, Education, Reproductive Health, Family Planning, Maternal and Neonatal Health.

In Yemen, 47% of girls are married before the age of 17.

Through technical assistance from ESD and BHS, the pilot project is being scaled up in 2 Amran districts of Thula and Raydah. YWU is gradually assuming management of project activities. In addition, YWU has been actively lobbying with Yemeni government for a change in Yemeni law that would prohibit the marriage of girls under age 17.