How a Pathfinder program in Mozambique is working with a variety of community partners to prevent child, early, and forced marriage and better the lives of women and girls.
What does playing soccer have to do with child marriage? In some ways, a lot. “In our tradition, women do not play football,” said Saidia Bacar, a 17-year-old girl from the Eduardo Mondlane neighborhood of Pemba.
That’s why a Pathfinder program in Mozambique, Preventing Child, Early, and Forced Marriage & Countering Violent Extremism in Cabo Delgado (locally known as Uholo-Raparigas e Jovens), is utilizing soccer for adolescent girls as one of the numerous approaches towards lessening the tide of gender-based violence (GBV) in the region, addressing beliefs that limit women and girls, and slowly alleviating the numerous barriers they face.
In the Cabo Delgado province, a region rich with mineral resources, many people live in poverty and frequently face natural disasters and an ongoing conflict—18% of young women ages 20 to 24 marry by age 15; 61% marry or live with a partner by age 18. Cabo Delgado has the second highest rate of child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM) and the highest rate of adolescent pregnancy in the country—56.2 % of girls ages 15 to 19 are mothers or pregnant1.
Since 2017, attacks by armed insurgents have disrupted health and social services, education, and livelihoods; displaced populations; and led to increased poverty. These effects have exacerbated CEFM, reduced access to essential sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, and increased GBV—including sexual violence—against adolescent girls and young women.
Community Conversations Shift Local Norms
Shifting norms means working with a wide range of community members, including adolescent girls and young women, their families, influential community members, school and health staff, judicial and law enforcement authorities, religious leaders, and policymakers. Through these multisectoral initiatives, the program addressed, reduced, and eliminated social and economic factors that curtail options for young women and limit their choices in life.
In practice, this meant a range of interventions, including:
- Providing adolescent girls and young women with social support and economic opportunities
- Shifting community norms around CEFM, girls’ education, and social positioning
- Increasing adolescent girls’ and young women’s use of adolescent-responsive sexual and reproductive health services
- Partnering with the Government of Mozambique, including provincial and district institutions and local and traditional authorities, to better enforce the law against child unions and policies that protect girls and young women rights.
One of the most critical pieces of this intervention is creating spaces for communities as well as young couples to have dialogues. Young couples are able to have dialogues amongst themselves, discussing issues such as power dynamics, communication, intimate partner violence, caregiving, and male engagement in reproductive health, aided by a targeted curriculum. Communities hold dialogues focused on growing awareness among adults about the importance of girl’s education, risks of early unions and pregnancies, and communication with adolescents. Both of these dialogues support young women in the communities and build their autonomy.
Musa Saide attended one of the conversations in his community, led by community facilitator Ramadane Abdala. His wife wanted their daughter Fatima, aged 16, to get married to a 28-year-old man. Musa and his wife were in conflict over the decision.
“My dad did not want me to marry that man,” says Fatima. “Only my mum wanted because she was listening to the decisions from her family side… I was feeling really bad because I wanted my dreams to come true, I want to become a nurse.”
But after attending a Uholo conversation focused on early marriage, Musa and Ramadane were able to talk to his wife and convince her that not only was the marriage illegal, but it would hurt their daughter’s future. They called it off.
Providing Economic Opportunities for Young Women
Another piece of the puzzle for Uholo is supporting young women to become more financially independent. Uholo supports young women’s savings and credit groups, as well as vocational trainings for adolescents and youth. These trainings included vocational courses like electricity and metalwork, challenging gender stereotypes and contributing to equal opportunities in the labor market. More than that, the trainings are supported by provincial and district government authorities, including the Provincial Director for Youth, Employment, and Sports and the National Institute for Professional Education (INEFP), underscoring the importance of creating a more inclusive and prepared youth workforce for sustainable development.
Fostering Healthy Relationships
Ultimately, Uholo is shifting norms from the family unit to the structural level. For young women and their partners who have attended Uholo couple’s sessions, the program has made an immense difference. Mussa, a young attendee of a group for young couples in Ancuabe, significantly shifted the way he thinks about conversations with his wife.
“We young men are mistaken thinking that, as I am a man, I am the only one who has the word in a house,” he said. “But it is not like that… the woman also has her share. When a woman says no, it’s because she means no…When she says, ‘My husband, let’s do this or that,’ we need to analyze what she says, and give priority to her.” More than that, Mussa now wants to educate his children equally. “I have to take advantage of what I learned to transfer it to my children, he says. “I don’t see the need to differentiate the education to my children, even if they are of different sex.”
Uholo’s Impact
In Uholo’s past year, the program :
- Reached 104,306 adolescents through games, films and conversations on girls’ rights, health support, gender equity, and violence in primary and secondary schools
- Held more than 475 entertainment and sports activities including football, drawing, chess clubs, and dance and theater.
- Met with more than 400 parents and caregivers to talk about the risks of child and early forced marriage (CEFM).
- Trained community leaders who held more than 4,000 ‘community debates’ to raise awareness on the harmful effects of CEFM, reaching 153,419 participants.
- 18,887 AGYW reached through household visits for health and educational services promotion and referrals and 3,991 AGYW participating in in out of school small groups to learn about youth sexual and reproductive health and gender issues, with focus on CEFM, early pregnancy, contraception, and gender-based violence (GBV).
- Supported the establishment of 57 self-managed credit and saving groups for 1,348 young women. More than 262 of them started or improved income generating activities.
- 111 youth (101 female) trained in different vocational trainings.
- 85 health providers trained on first line psychosocial support for GBV cases.
- Developed 38 community radio programs that hosted local experts including nurses, GBV focal points, the chief of police, etc. Programs addressed topics such as: changes during adolescence; early pregnancy and contraceptive methods; sexually transmitted infections; HIV and transactional sex; gender; GBV and sexual violence; menstruation and menstrual hygiene management; and alcohol and drug use by youth.
- Opened a safe space for women and girls in Pemba, which is managed directly by women. The space offers free SRH services (including GBV care), legal assistance, psychosocial support, and more.
- Trained 26 health providers on adolescents and youth center health services
- Ran a workshop for 17 judges and attorneys and 6 health staff, aimed at assessing the judicial process of GBV cases that had been handled in the province.
To learn more about Uholo, read Pathfinder’s technical publication, “Project Overview: Preventing Child, Early, and Forced Marriage and Countering Violent Extremism in Cabo Delgado.”
Read more testimonials about the project below:
“I usually participate in the debates of leader Lucia. One day, in the debate, she talked about family planning methods. I got very interested in what she said. At the end of the debate, I went to her and told her that I wanted a method but I was afraid to go to the health center. She said she could accompany me there and told me to call her the following day. Once at home I told my parents that I wanted a contraceptive method, that I wanted to finish my studies and achieve my objective of becoming a doctor. They supported me.”
– Marcia da Conceicao, 18
Photo Caption: Marcia da Conceicao with Uholo mentor Lucia Makuku, Mozambique.
Nyamo, 22, started a small business selling capulanas through participation in a saving and credit group in Pemba managed by Uholo. “With the profits of the business, I was able to enroll my daughter in school and buy school supplies, and I dream of building a stall later, where I will put the merchandise so that customers can see it.” Nyamo adds, “I had the support of my group colleagues and my husband.” Due to this activity, she proudly says that she now has her own money, which she can manage without depending on anyone.
Photo Caption: Nyamo Amade Assane and her capulanas.
1 “Inquérito de Indicadores de Imunização, Malária e HIV/SIDA Em Moçambique – IMASIDA, 2015.” Maputo, Moçambique: Ministerio da Saude – MISAU/Moçambique, Instituto Nacional de Estatística – INE/Moçambique and ICF International, 2018. Original data (65%) was from project baseline. Most recent data, early pregnancy rate in Cabo Delgado is at 56.2% (Source: “Mozambique DHS 2022-2023 Key indicators report”.)
Header Photo: Through Uholo, Pathfinder reaches adolescent girls and boys, as well as community members and government officials with a range of approaches. Here, a football tournament for young girls.
