San Salvador, El Salvador:

Within the framework of PGA’s Global Parliamentary Campaign to End Child, Early and Forced Marriage, PGA, in collaboration with the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, and with the generous support of UN Women’s country office and UNICEF’s regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean, organized a Legislative Forum entitled “Sharing Experiences and Best Practices in Latin America and the Caribbean to Prevent and Eliminate Child Marriage and Early Unions,” that took place on July 5 in San Salvador.

The Forum was convened in response to the request for technical assistance by Dip. Karina Sosa, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Central American Integration and Salvadorans Abroad of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, Co-Convenor of PGA’s Gender, Equality and Population Program and PGA Board member, and with the valuable support of PGA’s National Group in the country. The Forum’s objective was to bring together parliamentarians from the region to share their experience on legislative reform on ending child marriage with their Salvadoran peers as the Assembly currently reviews and discusses a project of reform to the country’s Family Code.

Dip. Ronny Monge Salas from the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, Co-Convenor of PGA’s Gender, Equality and Population Program and PGA Board member, Dip. Soledad Buendia from the National Assembly of Ecuador, and Dip. Gloria Reyes from the Chamber of Deputies of Dominican Republic shared, with their Salvadoran colleagues, their experiences in reforming their legal frameworks to establish 18 as the minimum legal age for marriage for both boys and girls with no exceptions, as well as the strategies they used to overcome some of the challenges faced during discussions and the opportunities of collaborating with relevant stakeholders such as civil society, the media and the inclusion and participation of girls’ voices.  It is worth noting that the reform to the Dominican Civil Code recently adopted by the Chamber is currently being discussed in the Senate.

In his welcoming remarks, Dip. Guillermo Gallegos, President of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador and a PGA member, reiterated his commitment to strengthen laws and policies in the country to protect women and girls, including the elimination of the practice of early and forced marriages.

“To talk about child marriage and early unions, is to talk about situations of exclusion of opportunities, of violation of rights and of social injustice. Therefore, it is urgent to find solutions in our legislations to effectively guarantee the rights of girls and boys,” said Dip. Gallegos.

Moderating the discussions, Dip. Mario Tenorio, Chair of the Commitee on Legislation and Constitutional Affairs and of PGA’s National Group in the country, emphasized the need for a comprehensive approach to end child marriage. In his remarks, Dip. Tenorio said: “Governments, parliamentarians, churches and civil society have to work together to establish and modify laws that exempt from judicial prosecutions those responsible for these rights’ violations.”

Dip. Margarita Rodriguez, Chair of the Women Parliametary Caucus, expressed that “there is a commitment to reform the Family Code to ban the authorization of child and adolescent marriages.” She also indicated that it is necessary to harmonize the Law on the Comprehensive Protection of Childhood and Adolescents and the Penal Code, which punishes unions between adults and boys, girls and adolescents. A current loophole in the Family Code allows these relationships to take place.

During his remarks, Dip. Rodolfo Parker, Chair of the Committee on the Family, Children, Adolescents, Aging Adults and People with Disabilities, expressed his commitment to study, review and discuss the project of reform to the Family Code in the next session of the Committee as its single topic. This Committee has under its purview two initiatives aimed at reforming articles 11 and 14 of the Family Code; particularly the last subsection of article 14 which states that “minors below the age of 18 can get married if they have a child together or if the woman is pregnant.”

Ms. Nadine Perrault, UNICEF’s Country Representative, whose presentation was on behalf of  UNICEF, UNWomen and UNFPA, and Mr. Adolfo Vidal, Programs Manager of Plan International El Salvador, also participated as speakers.

Lastly, Dip. Sosa indicated that the forum had encouraged the exchange of experiences in regards to the design of strategies not only aimed at banning child marriage, but also on those strategies that assist and contribute in changing mindsets among societies in order to effectively address the challenges that impact childhood and adolescence.

Salvadoran parliamentarians from the Committees on Legislation and Constitutional Affairs; on the Family, Children, Adolescents, Aging Adults, and People with Disabilities; on Foreign Affairs, Central American Integration, and Salvadoran Abroad; and on Women and Gender Equality attended the forum and expressed their appreciation for the valuable exercise of listening to the experiences of their peers in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Ecuador as well as reiterated their commitment to reform the Family Code in El Salvador.