Unite for Children The Voice and Action of the Concerns Creating a new social norms on child marriage July 12, University of Pennsylvania Indira Koirala

Quote for the Morning Waves are inspiring. Not because they rise and fall, but because each time they fall they never fail to rise again

Presentation flow Background and context Child marriage and its linkages with social norms theories Way forward

Intensity of the problem – the child marriage context in Nepal  Nepal holds 8 th position among the countries worldwide  NDHS 2011 found 40% of girls/adolescents of are married compared to 10.4% of boys.  One-quarter of Nepalese women (23 per cent) have given birth before reaching age 18,

Social Norms and child marriage relationships Empirical ExpectationsKanyadan –(marry off before they reaches puberty) Normative ExpectationsMarrying early will save money for parents Parents belief they ought to marry their girls at an early age Factual Beliefs"The younger the bride is, the cheaper the dowry" Normative beliefsParents see other girls of their daughters age married without any problems.

Schema and Scripts; extra social norms Schema and scripts Emphasis on virginity Fear of elopement- damage to family honour Poor communication between parents and girls Women and girls as commodities for exchange between families. Extra social norms Costs of education Group or exchanged marriages reduce ceremony costs Less dowry for younger girls Financial insecurity

Establishing a new social norms Child Friendly Local Governance framework Initial assessment will be carried out using specific tools and methods The initiative will be named as the “Jamarko” Aimed at engaging boys – the potential groom and the parents Child clubs will be the key entry point Diffusion and sustainability is thought through by establishing linkages with LGCDP

Measuring norms Reference groups Whose advice do you follow and value the most in the community? Lists three issues that are most important to you regarding your children. Who do you consult for these issues? While raising your child, who you follow, who you seek advice? Factual beliefs What would mean for a girl if you marry your daughter late? What do you think the appropriate age of marriage for a girl in your community? What are people's beliefs regarding girls education in this society?

Measuring norms Empirical expectations On average, at what age do people in your village marry their daughters? What the society will do if a girl stays with her parents until she becomes older and get higher education? Has anyone received any kind of punishment for marrying their daughters younger? Was it a legal sanction or societal sanction that this particular family had to face? Normative Expectations What would your neighbour do if their daughters want to stay home, study and marry later once she is grown up? What would enable you to do if your daughter wants to get educated, get some skills and once she becomes older wants to choose a person with home she can have happy family life.

The Jamarko Campaign: Three level Approach (What it aims for) I level Bringing in fore front the potential boys of marriage age who will be oriented towards saying no to early marriage. Mobilization of CC Orientation and training Peer educators creation Personal commitments and declaration Public honor in annual Bal bhela

What is expected at this level I Change the normative expectations of boys and their parents regarding child marriage. Son preference society with the families patriarchal norms and values parents will listen to their young sons Normative expectations will change

II Level- Jamarko Campaign Creating "ideal parents" who will be rewarded through a mass gathering in public –Potential grooms educating and influencing their parents (Street drama, Media campaigns, IEC, Radio programme and video songs) –Public honor to ideal parents by locally respected leaders –Linking families with the LGCDP and other IG initiatives –

What change is expected at level II Expected to change the existing empirical expectation of people and develop new empirical expectations in the communities Also expected to change the factual beliefs of parents regarding daughters in the society and they start creating positive images of their daughters in the society.

III Level- Jamarko Campaign Establish linkage with the local governance rules and procedures. –Engagement of local bodies –Children’s participation in formulating local policies on new social norms –Establishing linkages with the central level ministries –Declaring a child marriage free Village and district

What is expected at Level III Crucial for sustainability and diffusion Expected to change empirical expectations of the community at large. Child marriage become personal to public concerns Localization of social policy and change in behavior in compliance of law.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY One hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in my bank account nor what my clothes looked like BUT The world may be a bit better because I was important in the life of one Child

The Guiding Principle Let us do our part to let girls be girls, not bride – UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon

Thank you Questions and Comments???