Madagascar reinforces laws on Child Protection

By Henry Neondo
The Madagascar's Parliament has approved two new laws aimed at ensuring increased child protection for vulnerable children throughout the country and changing the legal age of marriage from 14 years for girls and 17 years for boys, to 18 years for both genders.

Even in exceptional cases, where parents have agreed to the marriage of their children between 14 or 17 and 18 years of age, a Judge's approval will still be needed to allow the union to take place, challenging the process of early marriage to the highest degree.

These new laws are crucial steps in putting Madagascar's child protection legislation in line with international standards, namely the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and its optional protocols, and the African Charter for the Wellbeing of Children, ratified by the Government of Madagascar in March 1989, March 1991 and August 1991 respectively.

UNICEF Country Representative Mr. Bruno Maes expressed satisfaction with the new changes and congratulated the Government of Madagascar for their continued engagement in the issue of child protection.

"These newly passed laws are excellent and landmark achievements for the rights of children in Madagascar and for preventing child trafficking - they will mean that from now on children are legally protected from the negative consequences of early marriage, as well as the severe impacts of being separated from their biological parents. It will be important to publicise the new legislation widely throughout the country".

Official UNICEF statistics show the extent of challenges to child protection in Madagascar. In terms of separation, in 2004, 13% of children under 14 years of age were living without their biological parents.

Regarding child abuse within the family, 10% of under-5 deaths in 2005 in Antananarivo were found to be due to neglect and/or violence.

In relation to child marriage, between 1987 and 2005, 39% of Malagasy children were married before the age of 18, 29% in urban areas and 42% in rural zones. This has a particularly harsh impact on girls, who can suffer from commercial sexual exploitation and violence.

Sometimes, parents are bribed with money to agree to their daughter's union without the child's consent "with the groom", a broker, then forcing the girl into the sex trade.

Furthermore, because married girls are usually unable to refuse sex or insist on condom use, child brides are often exposed to such serious health risks as premature pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and increasingly, HIV/AIDS.

Both boys and girls who marry early often suffer forced separation and isolation from family and friends, decreased opportunities for education, and are sometimes even subject to bonded labour or enslavement.

UNICEF said the next step is to ensure that this new legislation is put into practice, and that families and communities are educated on the importance of postponing the marriages of their sons or daughters, and the protection of separated children, thereby improving the environment for children at the family level.