Kazis administer and register marriage while Imams lead prayers at mosques. Many Imams work as Kazis.

The advocacy meeting titled “Child Marriage, it’s reason, impact and prevention measures” was held at Charfession, organised by COAST Trust, an NGO, with the assistance of Unicef and Women and Children Affairs Ministry. 

Also read: ‘Satkhira child marriage rate 74 pc’

Md Joynal Abedin, Upazila chairman of Charfesson upazila was present as the chief guest in the meeting, chaired by Upazila Women and Children affairs officer Ramandra Nath Bishwas. Aklima Begaum Lily, Upazilla vice-chairman; Md Mamun Hossain, Upazilla social welfare officer; Ripon Bishwas, assistant commissioner (land) were present as special guests.

Mizanur Rahman, Project coordinator, welcomed the participants and Rashida Begum, Assistant Director of COAST Trust, moderated the meeting.

Joynal said awareness of Kazi-Imam can play a role in preventing child marriage.

He urged not to perform marriage registry by representatives of a Kazi.

Aklima Begum Lili said girl victims of child marriage cannot maintain households properly. Therefore, sometimes they become victim of violence. Stopping child marriage, in turn, will reduce violence against women, she said.

Ripon Bishwas said to prevent child marriage, village level courtyard meeting and awareness at schools will help a lot.

Ramandra Nath Bishwas said most cases were filed over violence against women. Reducing child marriage will reduce number of such cases.

Researcher Iqbal Uddin of COAST Trust presented the key note paper, which shows that safety and security are the main reasons behind child marriage in Bhola.

Also read: Bangladesh has highest prevalence of child marriage in S Asia: UNICEF

Child marriage in Bangladesh

Bangladesh still has one of the highest prevalence of child marriage in South Asia and ranks among 10 countries in the world with the highest levels, according to a UNICEF report.

The report “Ending Child Marriage: A Profile of Progress in Bangladesh” released last year called for accelerated action to end child marriage in Bangladesh by 2030.

Ending child marriage is a priority for both the Government of Bangladesh and UNICEF.

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to end child marriage by 2030, and the national target to end child marriage by 2041, Bangladesh requires more efforts to bring change.

Progress must be at least 8 times faster than the rate of the past decade to meet the national target, and 17 times faster to meet the SDG target, the report said.

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