Visit our new interactive Atlas! Rates are lowest in Iringa and Dar es Salaam. In rural areas on the border with Kenya, some girls reportedly marry as young as Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that girls are somehow inferior to boys. In Tanzania, child marriage is also driven by:.
A study by Forward cites other driving factors for child marriage in Tanzania, including a demand for house maids in Iringa , a lack of awareness Lindi and Mtwara and parental force Mara, Tabora and Shinyanga.
Tanzania has committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by in line with target 5. Tanzania co-sponsored the and UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage, and signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage. Tanzania ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in , which sets a minimum age of marriage of 18, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CEDAW in , which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.
In Tanzania ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage. Tanzania is one of 20 countries which has committed to ending child marriage by the end of under the Ministerial Commitment on comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents and young people in Eastern and Southern Africa.
At the Girl Summit in July , the Government of Tanzania signed a charter committing to end child marriage by During its Universal Periodic Review , Tanzania supported recommendations to accelerate efforts to end child marriage. In , implementation plans were formed for eight regions. Gender and Children desks have been established in district police stations in Tanzania, alongside a Child Helpline piloted in six regions to assist victims of violence, including child marriage.
