On 12 November, the House of Representatives of Belize unanimously approved the Marriage (Amendment) Bill to change the legal age of marriage from 16 to 18 years old.
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Belize has taken a historic step by amending its laws to set the legal age of marriage at 18, strengthening protections for children and advancing gender equality. With unanimous support from all parties and representatives in the National Assembly of Belize, the country has reiterated its commitment to the rights of children. Much appreciation and recognition are due to the cohort of the national children’s parliament who in 2023 championed and called for this change by parliament in their annual program. In 2024, Parliamentarians heeded the call and with the passage of this legislation, the youth in Belize demonstrated the power of their voices to influence meaningful, transformative change. Hon. Valerie Woods, Speaker of the House of Representatives (Belize)Hon. Valerie Woods, Speaker of the House of Representatives (Belize)
On 21 November, the Senate approved the bill with government and opposition support.
According to Unicef, over the past 10 years, the prevalence rate of child marriage and early unions has remained stagnant in Latin America and the Caribbean. Addressing child, early and forced marriage has not been an important component of national development agendas and public policies. Only 13 governments out of the 33 in the region have prohibited marriage under 18 years without exceptions. Parliamentarians have a fundamental role to play to:
- Effectively address child, early and forced marriage and early unions and include these issues as priorities in their parliamentary agendas.
- Build political support to create an enabling legal and policy framework that:
- Asserts the primacy of national laws over customary and religious laws;
- Establishes 18 as the minimum legal age for marriage, uniformly for both boys and girls, with no exceptions;
- Strengthens civil registration (births and marriages), health and education systems; and
- Guarantees the enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights, property rights and access to justice for all girls and women.
