By Muhammad Amaan
The Malala Fund said it is supporting four organisations in Nigeria in implementing the National Strategy to End Child Marriage using girls’ education as a core policy tool.
The two-year Joint Action Grant (JAG) would support coordinated advocacy and implementation efforts nationally and specifically in Adamawa, Borno, Kano, Kaduna and Bauchi states.
The Communications Manager of Malala Fund in Nigeria, Ms Nankwat Mbi, made this known in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
She said that the JAG is led by a non-profit organisation, Education As a Vaccine (EVA), working in partnership with YouthHubAfrica (YHA), the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) and Onelife Initiative.
Ms Mbi said the organisations had complementary strengths in policy advocacy, grassroots mobilisation, research and coalition-building.
According to her, together, they bring proven experience translating national commitments into state-level action and supporting implementation of laws like the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act.
“Beyond policy advocacy, the coalition will challenge harmful social norms through storytelling and behaviour change campaigns, mobilise male allies and community champions, and strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships.
“The goal is sustained collective action, keeping girls in school, supporting re-entry when needed and building state capacity to turn commitments into outcomes they can feel,” she said.
She underscored the importance of the intervention, stating that in Nigeria, more than 30 per cent of girls got married before the age of 18, with rates reaching up to 50 per cent in the Northeast and Northwest.
She cited new evidence by Accelerate Hub, a research centre, indicating that effective programmes, including education support, could reduce child marriage among out-of-school adolescent girls in Northern Nigeria by about two-third within four years.
Ms Mbi added that Accelerate Hub’s analysis revealed that investing in combined programmes including community engagement, education support and skills training could prevent an estimated 327,000 child marriages in Northern Nigeria.
In her remarks, Malala Fund’s Nigeria Chief Executive, Nabila Aguele, said the grant would advance Nigeria’s plan to end child marriage, emphasising the need for political will and a clear strategy, not just good intentions.
“This grant backs youth leaders to drive collective action and move Nigeria’s National Strategy off paper and into action with clear state plans, real financing and accountability for results.
“Keeping girls in school through secondary education, whether they are married or unmarried, is one of the most powerful policy choices governments can make to end child marriage.
“Education has long been recognised as an important strategy to end child marriage — now is the time to translate that knowledge into action through integrated, cross-sectoral policy interventions that reach girls where they are,” she said.
Through the JAG, the coalition would advocate for states to implement and domesticate the National Strategy to End Child Marriage, with education as its core driver.
It would advocate for states to adopt re-entry policies, enabling married and pregnant girls to return to school, underscoring the importance of school completion in breaking the cycle of child marriage.
Additionally, it would work with ministries and civil societies to position education as the primary policy response for child marriage and push for state action plans with clear timelines, education financing and public accountability.
