Read the Findings and Recommendations

Child marriage is a human rights violation and manifestation of gender inequality. It disrupts girls’ education; increases their vulnerability to violence, discrimination, abuse, and death; and prevents their decision-making about their lives and their full participation in economic, political and social spheres.

Although child marriage is prohibited under the Sierra Leone's 2007 Child Rights Act, which states that the minimum age of marriage is eighteen years old, this harmful practice is perpetuated by deeply rooted social norms and practices. In 2015, UNICEF classified Sierra Leone among the12 most high-prevalence or high-burden countries in the world.

In November 2020, CAUSE Canada and CAUSE Canada Sierra Leone Partnership (CCSLP), with support from the Fund for Innovation and Transformation (FIT), the Inter-Council Network, and the Government ofCanada, began testing an innovative approach to eradicate child marriage in rural communities of the Koinadugu and Falaba Districts of Sierra Leone. The innovation was tested in 20 rural communities for 11 months, achieving a reduction of 92-95% in the rates of child marriage. According to interviews with key informants conducted a year after the intervention was completed, including project intermediaries, community leaders and relatives of girls whose marriages were cancelled during the innovation testing, the incidence of child marriage continued to be considerably lower than the innovation baseline.