Tuesday March 15 - Monday March 21, 2015 Parliamentary News 07

Special Supplement Gender, Equity & Social Inclusion

on International Women's Day Parliamentarians from , Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe reaffirm their Commitment to End Child Marriage

As the International Community Celebrates International Women’s Day 2016

Accra/New York/The Hague - March 8, 2016

arliamentarians for gional and international cam- Global Action (PGA), paigns spearheaded by high- in collaboration with level political figures to tackle the Parliament of child marriage; and strengthen Ghana, convened the capacity of Parliaments to PParliamentarians from Ghana, address the practice more Malawi, Mozambique, Tanza- strategically. nia and Zimbabwe for a two- day Capacity Building Seminar The event took place two weeks for African Parliamentarians after the country joined the on Addressing Child, Early and African Union’s Campaign to Forced Marriage (CEFM) that End Child Marriage by took place on March 2-3, in launching its national effort the , Ac- and coincides with the develop- cra. ment process of a National Strategic Framework to End A few days before the celebra- Child Marriage led by the Min- tion of International Women’s istry of Gender, Children and Day (which this year focuses Social Protection of the Repub- on women’s empowerment lic of Ghana. and the link to sustainable de- velopment, reflected through- Hon. Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, out Development Agenda 2030 MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs particularly in Goal 5 to and Regional Integration, and “Achieve gender equality and Hon. , MP, Second empower all women and Deputy Speaker of the Parlia- girls”), members of Parliament ment of Ghana, reiterated the (MPs) from Ghana, Malawi, commitment of the Executive Mozambique, Tanzania and and Legislative branches in Zimbabwe adopted a State- working together to end the ment of Commitment 2016, practice of child, early and recognizing that the elimina- forced marriage in their coun- tion of child, early and forced try and agreed on the need to marriage is a prerequisite to monitor and assess progress more equal, peaceful and dem- periodically and improve coor- ocratic societies, as well as for dination among agencies. the achievement of the Sus- tainable Development Goals by Mr. Christopher Thornley, 2030 and the African Union High Commissioner of Canada Agenda 2063. to Ghana, who spoke at the opening ceremony, quoted the Speaking at the Seminar for First Lady of Ghana in charac- African Parliamentarians on terizing child marriage as “the Child Marriage, in , Nana most obnoxious practice,” and Oye Lithur, Minister of Gender, reiterated Canada’s commit- Children and Social Protection ment to ending this harmful of the Republic of Ghana, said practice around the world. that 1 out of 3 girls in Ghana are subjected to child marriage The Seminar also had valuable and offered four main recom- contributions from PGA Mem- mendations to effectively end bers in Ghana, among this practice: strengthen the le- them,Hon. , MP, gal and policy frameworks by Majority Leader in the Parlia- identifying and closing any ment of Ghana and Chair of loopholes; establish indicators, a strategic plan, and verifiable Continued on Page 9 results; launch national, re- Tuesday March 15 - Monday March 21, 2015 Parliamentary News 09

Special Supplement Gender, Equity & Social Inclusion

on International Women's Day Parliamentarians from Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe reaffirm their Commitment to End Child Marriage

As the International Community Celebrates International Women’s Day 2016

Accra/New York/The Hague - March 8, 2016

Continued from Page 7 tary Seminar on Combatting CEFM that took place in March PGA’s Ghana National Group; 3-4, 2014 in Accra, Ghana, Hon. Irene Torshie Addo, MP which resulted in the adoption and Deputy Minority Whip; of a Statement of Commitment and Hon. Ursula Owusu-Eku- to End CEFM by participants ful, MP, PGA Board Member. and contributed to discussions, at the Ministerial level in In a video message, Ms. Ghana, for the establishment of Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, a Child Marriage Unit and the Goodwill Ambassador for the development of a strategic plan African Union’s Campaign to to address the practice. End Child Marriage, called on MPs to enact comprehensive Activities under PGA’s Global laws and policies to address Parliamentary Campaign on child marriage and ensure 18 as Child, Early and Forced Mar- the minimum legal age of mar- riage (CEFM) are generously riage; provide adequate re- supported by the Department of sources for programs; supervise Foreign Affairs, Trade and De- Ministries’ work and results; velopment of Canada. and to serve as the voice of their communities: “Make it your is- About PGA sue. Make it a human rights is- sue. Make it a development is- Parliamentarians for Global Ac- sue,” Ms. Gumbonzvanda said. tion (PGA) is a non-governmen- tal, non-partisan international During the two-day discus- network of approximately sions, experts, human rights 1,300 legislators in 143 elected practitioners and civil society parliaments around the globe representatives joined Parlia- that informs and mobilizes par- mentarians to offer their testi- liamentarians to advocate for monies, experience and perspec- human rights and the rule of tive on the root causes, conse- law, democracy, human securi- quences and strategies to end ty, non-discrimination and gen- child marriage, prioritizing a der equality. holistic and multi-stakeholder approach. Among the partici- In 2014, PGA launched its Glob- pants were: Advocate Karen al Parliamentary Campaign to McKenzie, Head of Human End CEFM in support of region- Rights, Commonwealth Secre- al and international efforts to tariat; Ms. Ruth Koshal, Senior eliminate CEFM through raising Africa Engagement Officer, Girls Parliamentarians’ awareness Not Brides; Ms. Valerie Msoka, about this harmful practice and first awardee of the Champion building political will at the na- of Early and Forced Marriage tional level to legislatively ad- (CEFM) in Tanzania Award con- dress the human rights of girls ferred by Canada; Ms. Susan and women, their right to a life Namondo Ngongi, UNICEF free from violence, and their Country Representative; Mr. M. equal access to the rights of ed- Bawa Amadu, UNFPA Country ucation, employment, active Assistant Representative; Ac- participation in public and pri- tionAid-Ghana, and civil society vate spheres, and health, includ- representatives from Girls Not ing sexual and reproductive Brides-Ghana. health and rights, in accordance with international human This year’s Seminar is a follow- rights norms and standards. up activity to PGA’s Parliamen-