New York/The Hague/Harare - Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) commends the work of its National Group in the National Assembly of Zimbabwe, for tireless efforts to mobilize colleague parliamentarians and build political will to effectively end child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) in their country.

On March 8 on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Hon. Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, MP & Vice-Secretary of PGA’s National Group in Zimbabwe, moved a motion on the Unlawful Practice of Child Marriage, which was seconded by the Chair of the group, Hon. Jessie Majome, MP, to celebrate the recent landmark judgment of the Constitutional Court clarifying and emphasizing the constitutional ban on child marriages. Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga, MP successfully mobilized 70 Zimbabwean male MPs to sign a petition personally disavowing child marriage. Her action encouraged Vice President of Zimbabwe, Mr. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also the Minister of Justice, to amend all marriage laws reflecting the constitutional position.

Vice President Mnangagwa’s commitment was secured when Hon. Majome, MP advocated with him in March 2014 to bring to Parliament the Bills necessary to remove all provisions in statute law providing for child marriage and therefore not in keeping with the Constitution. At that meeting, she presented to him a Statement of Commitment on this issue adopted at PGA’s Seminar to Combat Child, Early and Forced Marriage in Ghana [March 3-4, 2014 Accra]. The Vice President invited proposed amendments, which culminated in Hon. Majome, MP preparing, with the support of a Girls Not Brides consortium in Zimbabwe, a draft bill to harmonize inconsistent laws with constitutional standards. This bill will be presented to the Vice President shortly.

Although progress has been made on addressing this harmful practice in Zimbabwe, challenges still exist, including inconsistencies between certain pieces of legislation and the constitutional ban on child marriage and implementation of the law. Hon Majome has raised visibility to the fact that the Domestic Violence Act of 2006, which criminalizes child marriage, has not been implemented effectively.

Despite these challenges, PGA’s Zimbabwe National Group has led significant efforts within the National Assembly, and the Judiciary and Executive branches, enhancing political will to uphold the constitutional standards of protection of children against the harmful practice of child, early and forced marriage.