- Regional Study on Child Marriage 1

LEBANON Country Brief UNICEF Regional Study on Child Marriage In the and North Africa

UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional O ce This report was developed in collaboration with the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The views expressed and information contained in the report are not necessarily those of, or endorsed by, UNICEF.

Acknowledgements The development of this report was a joint effort with UNICEF regional and country offices and partners, with contributions from UNFPA. Thanks to UNICEF and UNFPA Jordan, Lebanon, , Sudan, Morocco and Egypt Country and Regional Offices and their partners for their collaboration and crucial inputs to the development of the report.

Proposed citation: ‘Child Marriage in the Middle East and North Africa – Lebanon Country Brief’, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Middle East and North Africa Regional Office in collaboration with the International Center for Research on Women (IRCW), 2017. LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 3 4 LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage

LEBANON Regional Study on Child Marriage

Key Recommendations

Girls’ Voice and Agency gious leaders through dialogue and awareness workshops. Maintain and strengthen safe spaces for women and . Service Delivery Increase funding to NGOs and Government of Leba- Increase financial incentives for sending girls non for holistic community programming. to school. Employ people from the targeted community to increase Empower girls through life skills, psychoso- the cultural and contextual sensitivity of interventions. cial support, economic strengthening, and access to education and health. Legal Context Build on social, health and economic assets Coordinate advocacy efforts to end child marriage. of girls to help them reach their full potential. Develop a national strategy to end child marriage in Engage girls as advocates for girls’ rights and Lebanon. in communication of risks associated with child marriage. amongst their peers and in their communities. Evidence Generation Increase research cooperation and collaboration.

Household and Community Support evaluation of current prevention pro- Attitudes and Behaviours gramming. Implement holistic community program- ming using UNICEF Communication for De- Establish strong M&E systems using UNICEF’s global velopment approaches. monitoring framework, Monitoring Results for Equi- ty Systems (MoRES), to monitor child marriage pro- Scale-up the engagement of receptive reli- gramme activities. LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 5

POLITICAL & ECONOMIC CONTEXT

Due to ongoing political instability in the Whilst GDP grew from 1.3 per cent in 2015 to 1.8 per MENA region, Lebanon has become a central cent in 2016 due to improving real estate and tour- hub for Syrian and Palestinian refugees flee- ism sectors, Lebanese citizens still struggle with un- ing violence. As of December 2016, over 1 mil- employment – approximately 300,000 citizens are lion Syrian refugees were registered with the unemployed, most of whom are unskilled youth. UNHCR in Lebanon, 52.5 per cent of whom are women and girls, over half of those displaced Syrian refugee influx in Lebanon under the age of 18.1 Lebanon also plays host to several other refugee communities, includ- ing Palestinian refugees from , and Pal- estinian refugees from Lebanon. The influx of refugees has strained the country’s infrastruc- ture and public finances, which at the same Political Economic Security Decreasing job time, has generated a number of restrictions challenges challenges challenges opportunities for those in the refugee community. Obtain- ing civil documentation is difficult due to -bu reaucratic requirements that refugees report being unable to fulfil,2 leaving many refugees in a precarious legal position, with the major- 300,000 Lebanese ity of them (60 per cent) without legal status citizens are unemployed as of August 2016.3

Although Lebanon is a signatory of the Convention December 2016: on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of over 1 million against Women (CEDAW), much remains to be done in Syrian refugees the country to fulfil the Conventions’ responsibilities. in Lebanon Whilst the adoption of Law 293 in 2014 legislated 52.5 % are women and girls, over half of new mechanisms to address family violence, the law those displaced are under the age of 18. contains several shortcomings, including neglecting to specifically protect women, failing to criminalize <18 marital rape, and offering only limited child custody 6 52.5% protections. Additionally, whilst there is not a com- prehensive child protection code in Lebanon, Law No. 422 of 2002, the ‘Protection of at-Risk Children or Source: UNHCR in Lebanon Children Violating the Law’, extends some protection to children victims of violence. A law which, despite In the absence of legal status, refugees have its efforts, still has many loopholes. Despite the provi- become vulnerable civilians with restricted sions of Law No. 422 and 293, many children seeking freedom of movement and limited access to asylum are still at risk of violence and exploitation. safety and critical services such as health- care, education and employment opportuni- The Lebanon Crises Response Plan 2017-2020 (LCRP) ties.4 This refugee influx has widened income is intended to directly address some of these issues inequality in the country.5 for both refugees and Lebanese citizens. 6 LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage

In coordination with the Government of aged 20 to 24 years were married before the age of Lebanon, the LCRP aims to strengthen 18, compared to 12.0 per cent of Palestinian refu- “existing national systems to address the gees from Lebanon (PRL), 25.0 per cent of Palestinian immediate needs of all those affected by refugees from Syria (PRS), and 40.5 per cent of Syrian the Syrian crisis and its protracted nature, refugees.10 Using the prevalence of child marriage both those displaced from Syria, and Leba- amongst all women ages 20 to 49 years to estimate nese communities.”7 In order to ensure sus- trends in child marriage over time, it is apparent tainability of these planned interventions, that the prevalence of child marriage is decreasing all activities will be aligned with national amongst Lebanese women and Palestinian women plans, such as the National Social Develop- from Lebanon, whilst it is increasing for Syrian wom- ment Strategy, National Ten Year Strategy en and Palestinian women from Syria. 11 for Women in Lebanon, and the MoSA Na- tional Plan to Safeguard Children and Wom- There is evidence to show that level of education and en in Lebanon.8 The LCRP activities aim to prevalence of child marriage are related in Lebanon. strengthen national protection, child pro- As shown in Figure 1, across all ethnic groups, women tection and GBV systems and the overall who have completed secondary or higher education protection environment. This will include are less likely to be married than those with interme- institutional support to relevant ministries, diate, primary, or no education. 12 capacity building to service providers, and psychological, medical, legal, shelter, life skills and social empowerment interven- Figure 1: Percentages of women age 20-49 years tions to GBV survivors and persons at risk, married before 18, by education, Lebanon, 2016 including for girls at risk of and affected by

9 child marriage. None 19% 30% 23% 25%

Primary 25% 34% 27% 31%

Box 1: Quote from the LCRP 2017-2020 Intermediate 19% 37% 23% 27%

Secondary 11% 20% 10% 1% “Protection activities will aim at Higher 3% 5% 2% 2% strengthening existing national sys- tems to address the immediate needs of all those affected by the Syrian crisis Lebanese Syrian PRL PRS and its protracted nature, both those displaced from Syria and Lebanese Table source: UNICEF Lebanon. (2016) Child Protection Baseline Survey 2016 communities” - draft results paper. Shared by Nina Kokol, GBV/HPM Specialist/Emergencies via personal communication, August 17, 2016. Note: (25%) for PRS with no education is based on 25-49 unweighted sample size

The relationship between child marriage and ed- PREVALENCE OF CHILD ucation in Lebanon is likely bidirectional. Previous studies have shown that higher levels of education MARRIAGE negatively affect attitudes towards child marriage. For example, a study by Saint Joseph’s University in Lebanon (USJ) found that 37.2 per cent of girls sur- The prevalence of child marriage in Lebanon veyed who had no education were totally against varies by nationality. According to a baseline child marriage, compared to 45.0 per cent of those survey conducted by UNICEF in 2015-2016, who had dropped out and 62.3 per cent of girls who 6.0 per cent of Lebanese girls and women were going to school.13 LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 7

An additional study by USJ on early marriage Interviews were conducted in person from Novem- rates in Lebanon found that education level ber 23 – December 6, 2016. All interviews were cod- also affected attitudes towards child mar- ed independently by two researchers, using NVivo riage amongst adults. Amongst all surveyed 11 to distill key themes which were then organized residents of Lebanon, 18.9 per cent of those through thematic content analysis. The findings with no education were either in favour or were then aligned with the Global Programme’s moderately in favour of child marriage, com- five outcomes (described below) and cross-checked pared to only 8.4 per cent of those with uni- with the local researchers to ensure that the data versity-level education.14 Thus, increased were consistent with their overall impressions education may delay marriage by chang- during the field missions. ing both girls’ and adults’ attitudes towards Table 1: Key Informant Interviews17 child marriage.

Girls who reported they Government were against child marriage Ministry of Social Affairs by level of education High Council on Childhood

UN 37.2% Who had no education UNHCR UNFPA UNICEF

NGOs Institute for Women Studies in the 45.0% Who had dropped out of school l’Université Saint-Joseph Danish Refugee Council Himaya 62.3% Who were going to school Organisations of ABAAD Arab Institute for International Rescue Committee At the same time, child marriage may also prevent women from completing their ed- Lebanese Women’s Democratic Gathering ucation. For example, a study on child mar- Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) riage amongst the Syrian refugee population Kafa (enough) Violence & Exploitation in Bekaa found that, of girls not enrolled in school for the 2015-2016 school year, mar- Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against riage or engagement was the cause in 20 per Terre des hommes Lausanne. cent of cases.15

METHODOLOGY16 LIMITATIONS

The data presented here was collected via This report presents the main findings strictly based key informant interviews with staff in in on the interviews and one focus group conducted two governmental institutions, three UN in Beirut, North Lebanon, and , and organizations, and 17 non-governmental are therefore, limited to those categories of respon- organizations (NGOs). dents. Considering the study’s goals and focus on 8 LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage

scaling up promising programmatic ap- As one NGO aptly put it, in order to access services, proaches, the study focused on service pro- a ’s first obstacle is leaving her house. Once a girl viders, government officials, multilateral reaches puberty, her mobility becomes increasingly agencies, and donors – all of whom would restricted in many poor refugee and Lebanese com- be able to identify ‘best practices’ to end munities. Once a young girl is married, the obstacles child marriage. As a result, the findings are to leaving the house become even higher – as one only representative of these respondent’s NGO key informant said: views of promising approaches to end child marriage in Lebanon. “They’re seen differently, they’re seen as having these responsibilities now that they’re married KEY FINDINGS even though they’re young, they have different restrictions placed on them in terms of their The key findings are outlined in light of the movement because of the perception of hon-

UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme’s five our and protection and community gossip.” outcomes:18

Adolescent girls atrisk of and affected by child marriage are better able to express This restricted mobility is symptomatic of girls’ lack and exercise their choices. of agency and voice within the home – one key infor- mant noted that as young brides, “there are so many Households demonstrate positive atti- people deciding for them, where they can go, what tudes and behaviours regarding gender they can do and what they can access.” equality and equity. Family and spousal control make accessing Relevant sectoral systems deliver quali- girls challenging ty and cost-effective services to meet the needs of adolescent girls. A girl’s agency can be limited in these scenarios by both her family, her spouse, and her spouse’s family. National laws, policy framework and Several NGO key informants cited the difficulty in ac- mechanisms to protect and promote cessing at-risk and already married girls: adolescent girls’ rights are in line with international standards and properly re- sourced. “It’s very rare for them to go to community centres for service provision, most of the times Governments support and promote the they can’t go alone, they need to be accompa- generation and use of robust data and nied by their , they don’t have the free- evidence to inform programme design, dom of mobility (they don’t have the financial track progress and document lessons. means) and the freedom of decision making.”

Girls’ Voice Even NGOs who reach out to girls in their own homes face 1 and Agency similar issues – “if we go to them and the girl is at risk of child marriage, she won’t speak up in the presence of her Gendered barriers to mobility restrict parents.” Some NGOs noted that the most effective way to girls’ movement provide services to the girl was to engage the whole family: LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 9

Whilst the USJ study did not break child labour down by gender, several key informants indicated that for “The whole family comes, and we divide them into groups to attend Syrian refugee families, child labour is the preferred the needed sessions. This way the alternative to school for boys, whilst child marriage is girl feels more comfortable coming the preferred alternative for girls. As one NGO infor- with her family, and they don’t have mant noted: to pay to come.”

Opportunity costs limit access to “When teenage boys are exposed to school education for Syrian refugees dropout, they will become workers, but for girls in the same age, school dropout will lead them to early marriage.” For families with limited resources, opportu- nity costs can often justify not sending their children to school. One key informant report- ed that even when families can access and afford education for multiple children, Girls’ school dropout can lead to a perpetuat- ing cycle – several key informants cited that the mother’s education level has a huge impact on the decision to marry off a child. In fact, two reports “…families will still feel that this is recently found that amongst Syrian refugees in not their best option, they don’t see Lebanon, a mother’s education was significantly the validity of education; they don’t 21 think the will associated with her children attending school, give them an added value.” corroborating a previous USJ study, which found that a mother’s level of education was associated with child marriage decisions.22 This suggests that limited education opportunities for at-risk girls not When school is not seen as an avenue to fu- only increases their own risk of child marriage, but ture social and economic stability, refugee families may instead turn to child labour also that of their children to being married early. and child marriage. A recent study from the Université Saint-Joseph (USJ) found a Box 2: Quote from Université Saint-Joseph strong association between work and going to school amongst Syrian refugee children: 69.5 per cent who do not work go to school, whilst only 12.6 per cent who work also go to “It turns out education was the only variable that we can control when it comes to child school.19 Additionally, the report found that marriage, especially the mother’s education; the school dropout rate is much higher for the more educated the mother is, the less her working students at 22.8 per cent, reflecting children are at-risk of early marriage.” the temptation to drop out of school in order to increase time available for work.20

Household and 69.5% 12.6% 22.8% 2 Community Attitudes Go to school Work and go School dropout rate and Behaviours to school for working students 10LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage

A key obstacle to ending child marriage is the Relatedly, an NGO expert stated that the: culture, social norms, and traditions which perpetuate community support for the prac- tice. The majority of institutions interviewed “symbolic violence that’s been fed into the mind for this study identified the importance and of girls, making it a given that she should find difficulty of changing social norms at the the right man who will make her life better.” household and community levels. In the Leb- anese context, one key informant said that it is important to recognize that: Marriage is thus viewed by many young girls as being both inescapable and beneficial, which, especially for Syrian girls who are refugees, can lead to the hope and expectation of early marriage. “[Child marriage] has multiple faces; it’s probably not the same situation when Conflict and instability exacerbate we talk about Lebanese and Syrians, child marriage when we talk about one community compared to another, in terms of sexual and religious background.” Lebanese government officials, UN officials, and NGO experts all noted that the trend of early mar- riage has grown exponentially as a result of the in- flux of Syrian refugees.

While this report frequently discusses child Many NGO key informants hypothesised that the fi- marriage as a sweeping issue across both nancial instability experienced by Syrian refugees is the Lebanese and Syrian refugee popula- a key driver behind the increasing rates of child mar- tions, it is important to note that the exact riage. When refugee families are uncertain of their norms and traditions can vary greatly both financial and physical security,child marriage can in- between and amongst those communities. creasingly be perceived as a way to secure a daugh- ter’s safety and financial future. Indeed, one NGO key Girls may lack awareness of the nega- informant noted that child marriage “is not seen as tive consequences of child marriage a negative thing by the [refugee] community – they see it as a way of securing the future of their daugh- Several key informants discussed the effect ter.” Another key informant suggested that: that a community’s social norms and tradi- tions have on girls’ own perceptions of child marriage. Their biggest concern seemed to be that at-risk girls lack awareness of the po- “The only way to make effective and sustainable tential negative health, safety and socioeco- change is to provide these families with what they need in order for them to stop using mar- nomic impacts that child marriage can have on riages of young girls as a way to secure their eco- their lives. One government official noted that: nomical positions in the informal settlements.”

Key informants also explained that child marriage “marriage itself is related in the girl’s amongst Syrian refugees is extremely difficult to ad- mind to her honour; it will be her destiny dress because child marriage is a symptom of much no matter what and where.” more pervasive underlying issues unique to the refu- gee situation. LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 11

One UN official noted that:

“The challenge is having the time to reach these girls; it’s not about identifying them, “[Child marriage] is not an isolated is- we know what is required to identify and sue, it’s a mechanism to cope with a find these girls, but if you have to engage the larger issue; without robust program- parents on several occasions, once a week ming to address the underlining causes, for 3 weeks, before you can even get the girl it becomes very difficult to address early to attend the sessions, the cost per beneficia- marriage directly.” ry increases, and that’s what we don’t have.”

As noted in this quote, despite their apparent effec- Service Delivery tiveness in allowing service providers to access at- 3 risk girls, these ‘whole family’ approaches are very expensive, which limits the number of families an Restricted mobility limits access to at- organization can work with – an obstacle that re- risk and already married girls spondents commonly noted with regard to these programmes’ successes. Accessing at-risk and already married girls is a frequently cited challenge by service pro- Trust must be built viders. Most commonly, this difficulty centres in refugee communities around two factors: In addition to devising ‘whole family’ approaches to programming, service providers also frequently Girls’ restricted mobility. evoked the importance of building a relationship and trust with the community as a whole and the Familial scepticism of the organization specific families they serve. A key informant at an in- and its services. ternational NGO summarised this best:

For example, service providers noted that:

“I think some of the challenges are get- ting the trust of the girls and their fami- “it is very rare for girls to go to commu- lies so that they’ll be able to participate, nity centres for service provision, most of which takes time, and it helps if the orga- the times they can’t go alone,” and “when nization is known and respected in the women approach us to get psycho or le- community... It’s also about not thinking gal support, men do not like it, and they that you’re going to meet with these fam- start questioning us, and our work,” and ilies once and assume that they will feel “we can face challenges from religious comfortable when you drive by your bus parties that do not understand why do up and pick up their daughters, they’ll we intervene and why do we think we just let their daughters get on your bus, have a say in what’s happening.” it just wouldn’t happen like that, maybe you will have to take the girls and their parent to the centre where you’ll provide Thus, in order to provide services to at-risk the activities, help them understand, in- girls, several NGOs cited that they devised vite them in the first few activities.” programming that engages the whole fami- ly or whole community: 12LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage

Another way to build trust within the community is to have community mem- bers involved in the implementation of “I think what we’re doing is really solid work and activities – several key informants noted I think what we provide right now is a good step forward in terms of what we’re able to provide how their organizations are working with for married adolescents, to make sure they’re local community members: one NGO having these information, life-skills… but then hired women from around the region to I’m not sure if we should be 100 per cent satisfied implement activities; another NGO con- with what we’re doing, because there is always ducting a study hired a woman field re- more to do and things that can be improved.” searcher from the community; another simply focused on delivering services with cultural and contextual sensitivity. Several NGO key informants commented Only 2 of the 12 interviewed NGOs did not consider that once trust is built within a part of the the services they offered to be effective at addressing community, they rely on their good repu- some aspect of child marriage. However, the majority tation to access at-risk girls. For example, of organizations did identify the lack of financial re- one NGO remarked that: sources as a key challenge to offering more compre- hensive and expansive services to their communities.

“we have good credibility within the 4 Legal community, which helps us a lot not Context to face resistance, people have heard about us by “word of mouth,” whilst There is consensus that a national strategy is another said that “we have a protec- needed to address child marriage, but current- tion shield in the community; even if ly none has been approved someone wants to attack our work, we have enough testimonials on our work There is currently no minimum age of marriage in Leb- in other areas, so they accept us.” anon and no approved national plan to prevent child marriage.23 However, since May 2015, there has been a consensus that a national strategy to address child marriage needs to be developed under the leadership of the High Council for Childhood. 24

Respondents are confident in their or- ganizational capacity to address child Currently, religious law determines marriage the minimum age of marriage

The majority of key informants from NGOs Marriages are typically governed by individual reli- were satisfied with the work their organiza- gious groups who have personal status laws over mar- tion was doing, and believed they were ef- riage decisions. Thus, religious law determines the age fectively addressing child marriage. Despite of marriage and varies depending on religion and de- the many challenges, they noted in provid- nomination. According to the Convention of the Elim- ing services to girls at-risk of child marriage, ination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women or who are already married, many organiza- (CEDAW), both boys and girls can marry under the age tions said that they were pleased with the of 18 across all religious groups.25 Amongst Sunni and effects of their outreach and participation Shiite communities, marriage is permissible for girls as levels. A quote from an international NGO young as 9 years old, although it is no longer custom- sums up the general sentiment well: ary to marry this young. 26 Amongst other religious LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 13

communities, a marriage can be licensed as marriage in Lebanon over the years. For instance, the young as 15 amongst Greek Orthodox and the draft law submitted by MP Mokhaiber and the Na- Assyrian Church of the East, and as young as tional Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) in 14 amongst , Catholic, Armenian Ortho- 2014 required the approval of a juvenile court judge dox, Syrian Orthodox, and Evangelical commu- to marry minors under age 18, to ensure that minors nities in Lebanon. 27 were not being coerced into marriages. The proposed law required that the judge hear the minor before a marriage is allowed. It is also proposed that the clergy Legality perpetuates child marriage who contracted marriages and parents who facilitat- ed them are penalized. However, other organizations When child marriage is legal in a country, did not agree with certain aspects of the proposal, it is difficult to end the practice. As one UN and submitted counter proposals – both Kafa and the official noted, “the law translates what the Lebanese Women’s Democratic Gathering submitted community thinks is acceptable.” This raises their own draft laws. the question: is it best to change the law and hope that social norms will follow, or should Several key informants noted that this process the law follow the social norms? The major- would have been more effective if all the con- ity of key informants asserted that in order cerned organizations had worked together on to end child marriage in Lebanon, the legal creating a unified draft law. In addition to present- age of marriage first had to be established ing one unified front, a national advocacy group at 18. However, international experience could have been formed between different back- shows that introducing marriage laws before grounds and institutions to lobby for the ratifica- communities are ready may lead to limited tion of that unified draft law by the parliament. enforcement of the law through illegal mar- riages and increased vulnerability of at-risk Coordination amongst women’s organizations and already-married girls. 28 does appear to be increasing - in May of 2016, the Higher Council for Children, the NCLW, the Orga- Thus, advocacy efforts and community norm nizations of ABAAD, the Arab Institute for Human change programmes should work in tandem Rights—Lebanon Office and UNICEF hosted the to end child marriage both de jure and de first consultative meeting on child marriage in facto. However, there was a strong consen- Lebanon. Experts and practitioners reviewed ex- sus across key informants that until Leba- isting legislation and regulations pertaining to nese leaders made child marriage illegal, ef- child marriage, and provided recommendations forts to end the practice would only make for legal revisions, health care service delivery, limited progress. capacity building amongst communities, advocacy, and lobbying.29 Additionally, the National Commis- Box 3: Quote from UN Official sion for Lebanese Women, a state body on women’s rights, and the Lebanese Women’s Democratic Gath- ering recently drafted legislation that would increase “The law translates what the 30 community thinks is acceptable.” the age of marriage amongst all religious groups. This bill was introduced to the Lebanese Parliament in March 2017.31

National efforts to end child marriage are ongoing Evidence 5 Generation In order to increase the pressure on the gov- ernment, several organizations have submit- ted draft laws to raise the minimum age of Exploratory studies on child marriage are underway 14LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage

Government officials, NGO experts, and UN Key informants pointed to of the need for efficient officials have become increasingly concerned coordination and collaboration between operating with rising rates of child marriage in Lebanon organizations in Lebanon as obstacles to generating in recent years. To better understand the in- and sharing evidence. Greater collaboration amongst creasing prevalence, several organizations institutions will be needed to close evidence gaps and have conducted exploratory studies to: avoid duplication of research efforts in Lebanon.

Understand the reality behind the inci- PROMISING APPROACHES dence of early marriage in the Lebanese IDENTIFIED BY KEY INFORMANTS community. The key informants identified several promising ap- Estimate the volume of the targeted proaches to help reduce child marriage in Lebanon. population. These include: Recognize the economic and cultural Incentivizing participation traits of the communities in which child in education and social programming marriage is highly prevalent. Due to economic hardship, social norms, and girl’s For example, the Organisation of ABAAD and limited agency, it can often be difficult for organiza- Queens University are collaborating on a tions to engage at-risk and already married girls. As study using a new interactive methodology an NGO key informant noted: that has not been used before, called ‘Sense Maker’, which tries to show the inter-linkage between socio-economic factors and other factors. As ABAAD noted: “You need to acknowledge the primary decision makers in their life, which are normally the care- givers, and that can be difficult…so what we are doing is to incentivize their participation, wheth- “It’s easy for us to just blame it on pov- er though a hot meal or insuring all expenses erty or just blame it on culture but it throughout their participation are covered.” would be more interesting to see how these are inter-linked.”

Incentives can range from covering transportation costs, to compensating for a lost day of work, to cash for The first phase of data collection is com- participation, to hot meals, etc. It can also be through plete, with over 1,300 survey responses creating a ‘one stop shop’, where multiple health and collected from women, girls, men and boys. education needs of the family can be addressed. ABAAD reported that they are now in the data analysis phase. In addition to NGOs using this method, UNICEF is currently running an unconditional cash transfer Lack of coordination perpetuates pilot programme to help children attend public pri- evidence gaps mary school in Mount Lebanon and in Akkar, areas with large amounts of Syrian refugees. Their plan is Despite many studies that focus on the to incentivise families to keep the girls at school in- issues of child marriage in Lebanon, stead of marrying them by providing cash assistance many key informants noted that large for school attendance. As part of the LCRP 2017-2020 gaps exist in the evidence on child mar- similar programmes are planned, although not spe- riage in Lebanon. cifically targeted to at-risk or already married girls. For LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 15

example, UNICEF is implementing a Back-to- nity can be very difficult. NGOs noted many different School initiative, which, amongst other things, ways to gain the trust of the communities. One report- will help to subsidise enrolment fees, books ed that they conduct activities within small communi- and stationary, and transportation to school.32 ties rather than at centres outside the community: It will also pilot a cash transfer programme to provide additional support to poor families, and will be scaled up if proven effective. “The fact that we’re going and doing them in Incentivising participation has proven effec- small communities, is somehow perceived as tive in other contexts, and has been identified being safer for the girls, its more acceptable as a promising approach to addressing child and more flexible to them because it’s less marriage in the Lebanese context. UNICEF’s time it doesn’t involve going to the centre and coming back, there is really a value in having unconditional cash transfer pilot and Back-to- them community based.” School initiatives will provide information on effectiveness in the near future.

Holistic community engagement Another NGO key informant said their organization was trusted within the community because: NGO, government, and UN officials commonly noted that child marriage has to be addressed at the community level. As one UN official put it, “child marriage is a community issue, so “We are not only a women’s protection or- we try to work on the community level to try ganization, we’re an organization that also to prevent it.” The majority of key informants does development work. That puts us in a identified community engagement as a best privileged position whereby the commu- practice in addressing child marriage. nity is not perceiving us only as a women’s organization – they need to see that we’re doing benefits the whole community, not Community engagement was typically envis- just the women.” aged in two different ways:

As a way to gain the trust and buy-in of the community and families. Another NGO took a longer-term, concerted effort to As a way to change community and build trust: household norms.

Gaining community trust to better provide services to at-risk and already “Gaining the trust and confidence of these married girls populations is something that we are slowly doing, because of our presence and because As part of holistic community engagement, of the fact that we are there, they’re seeing the activities and understanding them.” many key informants noted that in order to assist at-risk and already married girls who have low agency and voice, it is necessary to build a relationship and trust with fam- ily and community members. If community The UN also relies on community based protection leaders and families do not trust an organiza- programming to build trust and legitimacy within tion, addressing child marriage in the commu- the community: 16LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage

Some organizations have focused their efforts on engaging with local religious leaders due to their “It’s a lot more effective to engage a wide influence within poorer communities. Key in- wide variety of community members, formants cited the “significant impact” that religious for example young women, youth, ado- lescents, men, boys…to go and inform leaders can have on the social norms within commu- other community members about the nities. Through dialogue and awareness workshops, risk of early marriage; it’s more effective organizations are encouraging religious leaders to when it comes from refugees them- challenge and address social norms surrounding selves than from external humanitar- child marriage. Whilst several organizations high- ian activists who are often seen as not lighted their successful experiences engaging reli- understanding the cultural context.” gious leaders to change community norms around child marriage, others reported experiencing some resistance from religious leaders. Thus, whilst this is an innovative method that shows promise, careful These three approaches to building trust and evaluation of these programmes is needed, as there legitimacy in the community underline the va- can be no certainty of what messages the communi- riety of ways organizations can engage in this ty is receiving from religious leaders about child mar- best practice. As evidenced by these quotes, riage. Many religious leaders in Lebanon believe that many key informants considered trust-build- child marriage can be a good option for girls in diffi- ing an essential first step in providing services cult situations, and careful selection and training of to at-risk and already-married girls. religious leaders will be needed to ensure that they are implementing a child protection approach. Changing community norms around child marriage Other organizations have gone beyond engag- ing communities for awareness raising and social Building trust and relationships with family norms change, to directly recruiting the community and community members is a predecessor into child marriage prevention efforts. For example, to changing community norms. The majori- Kafa runs community committees devoted to de- ty of key informants identified social norms tecting and intervening in cases of child marriage. and culture as a key driver of child marriage. They reported great success with these committees, Respondents also stressed how difficult especially in informal settlements refugee camps, it is to change those social norms, both at citing them as being “efficient and able to make an the household and community levels. De- impact.” Kafa is planning to increase the number of spite this inherent difficulty, engaging with community committees this year because of their community leaders and members through apparent success. awareness campaigns and dialogue was identified as a promising approach to changing these norms by NGO, UN, and government officials. One international NGO takes a very deliberate approach by: RECOMMENDATIONS

The recommendations emerging from this study “Particularly looking at the differ- are grouped under the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Pro- ent community structures that are in gramme’s five outcomes: place…thinking who are the people who have power within that communi- ty who could potentially have a role in Girls’ Voice & Agency protecting and changing, supporting prevention in regards to early marriage.” Maintain and strengthen safe spaces for women and girls LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 17

Four NGO key informants identified the need It should be noted that although cash incentives for more safe spaces for women and girls in are a promising stop-gap measure to keeping girls Lebanon. The UNFPA defines safe spaces as “a in school and delaying age of marriage, these pro- formal or informal place where women and grammes may be unsustainable in terms of cost, and girls feel physically and emotionally safe.”33 should be coupled with community norm-changing Safe spaces can be instrumental in building interventions.37 Girls’ continued school attendance a girl’s agency and voice, giving them the op- and education is a key factor in preventing child mar- portunity to meet other girls in similar situa- riage, and should be incentivized appropriately. tions, and creating a peer support network.34 In addition to these recommendations, the UNICEF Safe spaces also offer services for , Lebanon Country Office staff identified the following an important provision as there is evidence key recommendations: that empowered mothers can help delay the age of marriage of their daughters. For Empower girls through life skills, psychosocial example, one safe spaces model in Lebanon support, economic strengthening, and access to works through national Listening and Coun- education and health. selling Centres, and offers activities for chil- dren whilst mothers participate in their own Build on social, health and economic assets of girls activities.35 to help them reach their full potential.

While there is already a large network of both Engage girls as advocates for girls’ rights and in com- mobile and static safe spaces in Lebanon for munication of risks associated with child marriage women and girls, implementers should focus amongst their peers and in their communities. on assessing the adequacy and relevance of offered activities for all the cohorts and ensure linkages with other key sectors for women’s Household and Community and girls’ empowerment. Specific attention Attitudes and Behaviours should be on paid to ensuring effective spaces and services for girls at immediate risk of child Implement holistic community programming marriage, and for girls recently married. Whether it takes the form of an awareness cam- Increase financial incentives for send- paign, health services, or dialogue workshops, ing girls to school child marriage programming is more likely to be successful when it is engaging a variety of com- A 2016 systematic review of interventions munity actors. Because girls have limited voice and to prevent child marriage in low and middle agency, only engaging with girls on child marriage income countries found that cash-transfer issues will have limited efficacy – it is imperative programmes and programmes to decrease to engage their families and community leaders if school-associated costs “had a significant norms around child marriage are to change. Any impact on decreasing the rate of child mar- behaviour change strategy intended to address riage or increasing age at marriage in the the norms around child marriage needs to mobi- intervention group.”36 Whilst this systematic lize the entire community. Programmes should use review did not include any studies from the UNICEF’s Communication for Development (C4D) MENA region, comparable programmes are strategies to work with both adults and children in currently being piloted under the LCRP 2017- the community to identify problems, propose solu- 2020 strategy and by UNICEF – the results tions and act upon them. should be shared widely, and programmes should be scaled up if proven to be effective As discussed earlier, key informants reported that in the Lebanese and Syrian refugee context. child marriage practice amongst Syrian refugees is 18LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage

perpetuated by the perception of child long-term funding and capacity building of lo- marriage as protecting girls from financial cal organizations and physical instability. To address this, C4D strategies should be used to support The majority of service providers identified lack of public education programmes that raise continuous and reliable financial resources as a key awareness of the negative consequenc- challenge to offering more comprehensive and sus- es of child marriage on a girl’s health and tainable services to their communities. Specifically, that of her children, in order to reinforce organizations that attempt a holistic community and the perceived duties of parents and com- family approach to their programming face serious munities to protect at-risk girls. financial limitations due to the expansive and costly nature of implementing programming for the whole Scale-up the engagement of receptive community. Several NGOs noted that they must limit religious leaders the number of cases they can take on because pro- viding holistic family programming to both at-risk Like targeting programming to the entire and already married girls quickly becomes very ex- community, it can be beneficial to specifi- pensive. To address this, funding and organizational cally connect with local religious leaders. support should be increased, with the goal of build- Making religious leaders aware of the con- ing the capacity of NGOs and government to deliver sequences of child marriage, and supporting sustainable programming. them to become vocal advocates can have a powerful impact on the way community Employ people from the targeted community members view child marriage. As a recent re- to increase the cultural and contextual sensi- port by PLAN noted: tivity of interventions

Employing people from the community can increase the cultural and contextual sensitivity of an organi- “By speaking out against child mar- zation’s work. Many NGOs noted their success, and riage and identifying and championing the increased access they had to young girls when community led strategies for ending they hired from within the communities in which the practice, [religious leaders] can cre- they were working. Indeed, one UN key informant ate environments where parents who remarked that programmes are “a lot more effective decide not to marry their daughters early are supported.” 38 when it comes from refugees themselves rather than from external humanitarian activists who are often seen as not understanding the cultural context.”

This is already being done in Lebanon, and Legal Context where interventions have shown to be suc- cessful, they should be scaled-up appropri- Coordinate advocacy efforts to end child marriage ately. However, caution must be exercised to ensure that religious leaders are promoting Lack of coordination and collaboration amongst evidence-based messages and not reinforc- organizations advocating to end child marriage in ing harmful ideas. Therefore, this type of Lebanon was a serious concern cited by many key intervention requires careful selection of re- informants. Although it does seem to be improving, ceptive religious leaders and large amounts further strategising and coordination of resources is of training and oversight. needed in order to create a unified draft law setting the legal age for marriage at 18. A national advocacy Service Delivery group should be formed to lobby for the adoption of the unified draft law introduced to the Parliament Ensure sustainable services through in March 2017. LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 19

Develop a national strategy to end of various programmatic approaches to ending child marriage in Lebanon child marriage in Lebanon. Ensuring that pilot pro- grammes like UNICEF’s unconditional cash transfers As mentioned previously, since May 2015 to help children attend public primary schools, and there has been a consensus that a national Back-to-School initiatives have sufficient funding and strategy to address child marriage needs to resources to adequately evaluate their programmes be developed under the leadership of the should be a priority. This will build the evidence base High Council for Childhood in Lebanon. As for child marriage prevention in Lebanon, and will of June 2017, efforts are currently underway allow practitioners to make appropriate adjustments to begin developing the national strategy before scaling up these interventions. and action plan. Domestic and international stakeholders need to be engaged at an early Develop an M&E framework and tools stage to provide input on the strategy to en- sure their buy-in and support of the plan. The Future monitoring and evaluation efforts should re- national strategy should be holistic and ad- fer to the lessons learned and best practices emerg- dress the five focus areas of the UNICEF/UNF- ing from the level 3 monitoring approach (L3M) pi- PA Global Programme on child marriage. Ad- lot for child marriage activities in Bangladesh. This ditionally, whilst changing laws is important, pilot was the first attempt to use UNICEF’s global the plan should also look at potential policies monitoring framework, Monitoring Results for Eq- that can effectively address child marriage in uity Systems (MoRES), to monitor child marriage Lebanon. programme activities. The L3M monitored two of UNICEF’s child marriage activities in Bangladesh Evidence Generation – adolescent stipends and conditional cash trans- fers – to assess their effectiveness in addressing so- Increase research cooperation and col- cial norms, financial access, and legislation/policy. laboration The results from this pilot document the successes and challenges in changing social norms through The Lebanese government and international multifaceted community based programming, and donors need to support and promote could form the basis for an improved monitoring the generation and use of robust data and framework of child marriage activities in Lebanon. evidence. Although there is some recent statistical data gathered by different or- ganizations, such as UNICEF/MoSA’s 2016 Baseline Survey, there remains a large gap in the evidence. Greater collaboration amongst institutions will be needed to close this evidence gap in Lebanon.

Support evaluation of current preven- tion programming

Despite the many programmes that address child marriage under the auspices of gen- der equality, child protection and/or gen- der-based violence, very few have conducted studies to evaluate the efficacy of their inter- ventions. This has severely limited knowl- edge of the effectiveness and sustainability 20LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage

References

1. UNHCR. (2016). Syria Regional Refugee Response. Available at: http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122 2. Janmyr, M. (2016). Precarity in Exile: The Legal Status of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 35(4), 58–78. https:// doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdw016 3. Inter-Agency Coordination Lebanon (2015), InterAgency map of the Most Vulnerable Localities in Lebanon. 4. Janmyr, M. (2016). Precarity in Exile: The Legal Status of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 35(4), 58–78. https:// doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdw016 5. Lebanon Overview. (2016, Oct. 1) The World Bank. Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/lebanon/overview 6. KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation. (2014). Annual Report 2014 Highlights. Available at: http://www.kafa.org.lb/StudiesPublicationPDF/PRpdf-82-635689245975040950.pdf 7. Government of Lebanon and the United Nations. (2017). Lebanon Crisis Response Plan 2017-2020. 122. Available at: https://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/download.php?id=12698 8. Ibid. 9. Ibid, 121-125. 10. UNICEF Lebanon. (2016) Child Protection Baseline Survey 2016 - key findings presentation and draft results paper. Shared by Nina Kokol, GBV/HPM Specialist/Emergencies via personal communication, August 17, 2016. 11. Ibid. 12. Ibid. 13. Alsharabati, C., & Lahoud, C. (2016). Analysis of Child Education Survey (p. 26). Lebanon: Saint Joseph University. Retrieved from http://www.isp.usj.edu.lb/pdf/Refugees%20Report%20USJ%20-Avril%202016.pdf 14. Alsharabati, C., & Soubra Itani, H. (2015). Mariage Précoce: Illusion ou Réalité? (p. 25). Lebanon: Saint Joseph University. Available at: http://www.isp.usj.edu.lb/pdf/Finalllll%20June%2029%20Images%20Hi%20res.pdf 15. Abdulrahim, S. et al. (2016). The prevalence of early marriage and its key determinants among Syrian refugee girls/women: The 2016 Bekaa study, Lebanon. American University of Beirut, UNFPA, SAWA for Development Aid. 16. ICRW would like to thank the valuable contribution of Ranim Rachid Osman who conducted all the interviews and translated them from Arabic into English. Ranim Rachid Osman is an Attorney-at-law in Beirut, Lebanon. 17. The work of very few organizations is highlighted in this brief as it was not possible for ICRW to meet with all of the organizations working on child marriage in Lebanon. ICRW and UNICEF are conscious that this brief does not reflect all the good practices in child marriage programming taking place in Lebanon. 18. As part of their mandate to combat child marriage and in line with the Gender Action Pan 2017, UNICEF has joined efforts with UN- FPA through the Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage, a new multi-country initiative that will help protect the rights of millions of the world’s most vulnerable girls. This Global Programme focuses on proven strategies, including increasing girls’ access to education and health care services, educating parents and communities on the dangers of child marriage, increasing economic support to families, and strengthening and enforcing laws that establish 18 as the minimum age of marriage. The pro- gramme also emphasizes the importance of using robust data to inform policies related to adolescent girls. 19. Alsharabati, C., Lahoud, C. (2016). Analysis of Child Education Survey. Université Saint-Joseph. Available at: http://www.isp.usj.edu.lb/pdf/Refugees%20Report%20USJ%20-Avril%202016.pdf 20. Ibid. 21. Abdulrahim, S., DeJong, J., Mourtada, R., Zurayk, H., Sbeity, F., & Khawaja, M. (2016). The Prevalence of Early Marriage and its Key Determinants Among Syrian Refugee Girls/Women: The 2016 Bekaa Study, Lebanon. American University of Beirut; UNFPA, Sawa for Development & Aid; Alsharabati, C., Lahoud, C. (2016). Analysis of Child Education Survey. Université Saint-Joseph. Avail- able at: http://www.isp.usj.edu.lb/pdf/Refugees%20Report%20USJ%20-Avril%202016.pdf 22. Alsharabati, C., Itani, H.S. (2015). Mariage Précoce : Illusion Ou Réalité? Enquete sur les taux de mariage précoce parmi les libanais et les refugies syriens au liban. L’institut des Sciences Politiques de L’usj. Available at: http://www.isp.usj.edu.lb/pdf/ Finalllll%20June%2029%20Images%20Hi%20res.pdf 23. It is worth noting that there is an action plan to eliminate the worst forms of child labour which briefly mentions child marriage. 24. Conversation with a UNICEF child protection and gender-based violence specialist. 25. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. (2006). Consideration of reports submitted by States Parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women Third periodic report of States Parties Lebanon. Available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/reports.htm#l 26. Ibid. 27. Ibid. 28. Hawke, A. (2001). Early Marriage: Child Spouses. UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. Available at: https://www.unicef-irc.org/pub- lications/pdf/digest7e.pdf LEBANON - Regional Study on Child Marriage 21

29. The Lebanese Republic, Ministry of Social Affairs and Higher Council for Childhood (2016). Consultative meeting on child marriage in Lebanon: Draft report of the national consultative meeting. 30. Lebanon. Girls Not Brides. Available at: http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/child-marriage/lebanon 31. Lebanon: Pass Bill to End Child Marriage. (2017, April 12). . Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/12/ lebanon-pass-bill-end-child-marriage 32. Government of Lebanon and the United Nations. (2017). 50. 33. UNFPA. (2015). Women and Girls Safe Spaces: A guidance note based on lessons learned from the Syrian crisis. Available at: http:// www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/UNFPA%20UNFPA%20Women%20and%20Girls%20Safe%20Spaces%20Guid- ance%20%5B1%5D.pdf 34. Ibid. 35. Ibid. 36. Kalamar, A. M., Lee-Rife, S., & Hindin, M. J. (2016). Interventions to Prevent Child Marriage Among Young People in Low- and Mid- dle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of the Published and Gray Literature. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(3), S16–S21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.06.015 37. Ibid. 38. PLAN. (2013). A Girl’s Right to Say No to Marriage: Working to End Child Marriage and Keep Girls in School. Available at: http:// plan-international.org/girls/childmarriagereport

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