Sometimes you need to speak as many languages as possible to put your message across. The ongoing “Too young to be Married” media campaign has captured the attention of the youth especially those who listen to radio stations or are actively engaged on various social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter.

This being a campaign that’s intended to raise awareness and empower both girls and boys with correct information, skills and networks to enable them recognize child marriage and early pregnancy as a gross violation of their rights and take mitigating action is key in championing Child marriage in South Sudan, we understand that music is one way we can easily pass the message to this category of people.

The song titled “Child Marriage” was composed and produced by Dj Cent, a prominent South Sudanese artists who has been at the frontline of advocacy against GBV using his voice/music to raise awareness on issues of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in South Sudan. Dj Cent is famously known in South Sudan for his song “In-law why are you beating my sister”. A song that dominates radio playlists and programs/events in South Sudan especially during 16 Days of Activism.

Dj Cent at Radio One during a talk-show about His new song on ending Child Marriage in South Sudan

He did it again with this new song he produced for the “Too Young to be Married” media campaign. In this song, he highlights the effects of child marriage child at an individual, family and community level. In the video he illustrates the difference between a young girl who is married off at an early age and the other who is sent to school and marries at a later age.

CREW Staffs together with the artist had four (4) radio talk shows on Miraya FM, Eye Radio, City FM and 87.9 Radio One-South Sudan. These talk shows focused on the new song and the song is already becoming a hit on these radio stations. During the talk show while premiering the song, a number of listeners called in to appreciate the initiative taken by Crown the Woman, UNFPA and DJ Cent to end child marriage. Here is the audio link to the song:

http://www.reverbnation.com/open_graph/song/30228390 and the video is also being played on various. you can check it out on youtube as well!

In South Sudan, people often use “culture” as a justification for most forms of violence against women especially when it comes to issues to do with marriage. Child marriage is literally accepted as part of cultural practices and traditions in customary laws in South Sudan, the same customary laws whose customs and traditions are used as a source of legislation. Despite the fact that the government of South Sudan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which have been localized, the parliament as well passed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children, which prohibits child marriage. The legal framework in South Sudan that governs child marriage consists of the Interim Constitution of 2011, the Child Act of 2008, the Penal Code of 2008, the Criminal Procedures Act of 2008, the Local Government Act of 2009, and the Peace Agreement, which is supreme over Customary Laws and by-laws practiced by chiefs in all states. But all these efforts are strongly hindered by culture backed by customary laws that run the show in South Sudan when it comes to Child Marriage.

To bring this discussion to the attention of the public, CREW had the opportunity to engage with the Executive Director of Steward Women, a women’s organization that provides legal services through its established mobile community based legal aid centers /courts. Mrs. Josephine Chandiru shared her experience fighting for justice for women in South Sudan. “Access to justice for women and girls is just on paper, it’s not in reality” she said. Even a few victims who take legal action come back and beg the organization to drop the case due to lack of support from their family, pressure and to some extend victims are threatened and for fear of their lives choose to drop the case and be silent, she added. Rule of Law must prevail for effects such as the one Steward Women has in place to move smoothly and be impactful, and that right there is our biggest challenge in South Sudan.

We were also joined by Mr. Philips Anyang Ngong, a human rights lawyer who through his organization, “Advocates Without Borders” has been strongly advocating for that “marriageable age” to be defined in the constitution. His organization filed a petition in 2017 at the supreme court of South Sudan that is being looked at now at the second opinion to clarify and constitutionalize marriageable age. “Besides the use of customs and the unclear legal age of marriage, South Sudan has the Child Act 2018 that has not yet been operationalized” says Mr. Philips. During the radio talk-show, Mr. Anyang was able to share in depth the gabs in the constitution and challenges they face in this field and gave recommendations and what needs to be done constitutionally to end Child Marriage in South Sudan. The talk show was a very insightful show as he interacted with listeners who called in to ask him several questions as well as those that appreciated the topic and also shared their opinions regarding the weak legal framework in South Sudan.

There are various provisions from the different laws that are contradictory and full of loopholes that make it difficult to win child marriage cases in courts so as to establish a legal precedent.

Mr. Philips Anyang, A human rights lawyer during a radio talkshow on understanding the legal framework with regard to protecting of girls from Child Marriage in South Sudan

Marriageable age is undefined, the customary laws that govern child marriages are recognized in the constitution, the Penal Code criminalizes the would-be husband who marries an under-age child but not those who make decisions or preside over it. There is no provision that protects a minor boy who impregnates a girl even if she is of the same age, so boys are not equally protected. Abduction of girls for marriages, giving out girls as blood money for crimes committed by males of the family, and inheritance of girls after the death of their sisters are all happening at a time when they are not legally able to give consent as a child. The rewarding of rapists with marriage
of the rape victim as a way to overcome stigma
and or bring compensation to the girls’ families
has been characterized by stakeholders as an appalling miscarriage of justice and recommended that criminal acts such as rape should not be amenable to arbitration through the customary laws but addressed through the statuary courts with stiff penalties.

All these contradictions between and within the pieces of legislations frustrate efforts in place to end Child Marriage in South Sudan.

To end Child Marriage, a functioning legal framework is vital, the Ministry of Justice has a lot to do here. It’s heartbreaking to see constitutional post holders engage in acts of child marriage and they go unpunished.

For the past two months, CREW has been conducting mentorships in six (6) secondary schools namely; Juba Day, Promised Land, Don Bosco, Nile Model, Juba Diocesan and Juba Commercial secondary school). This program was intended to enhance the students’ understanding of School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV), the various forms of SRGBV, its effects or consequences on students and, Prevention and Response mechanisms.

Nancy, One of CREW mentors engaging with her group of students

CREW with support from the trained volunteer mentors were able to reach out to 1,470 students, (862 girls and 608 boys). This mentorship was very effective because of the students overwhelming participation, remarkable knowledge on GBV especially  SRGBV, and their willingness to spearhead prevention and response both in schools and at their community levels. Their knowledge on SRGBV confirmed how impactful CREW’s last year’s engagement with these students during the establishment of the GBV Prevention Clubs in their schools were.

The students emphasised the need to engage teachers and parents in this process. Other students had a moment of awakening and acknowledged how they had unknowingly either been inflicting some of the SRGBV forms on other students or have unknowingly been violated by their peers. This mentorship program gives these young boys and girls, especially the young girls who in most cases are the most vulnerable an opportunity to build and increase their social assets and safety nets to protect themselves from violence and respond to threats and incidents of violence.

Confidence: A student giving her opinions while the mentor looks on.

All this would not have been possible without the unwavering support from our well informed volunteer mentors who availed themselves despite their busy schedules from the start of the mentorship program to the end. They mentored the students in a much easier and practical way by giving examples from their real life experiences as a reference to school related gender based violence. By showing vulnerability they made it easy for the students to relate and also share openly. The mentorship did not only enhance the student’s capacity on SRGBV but also built a bond between students and the mentors.

On the other hand, being end of the academic year (final term), it was not easy to have these schools give us the dates and hours we needed to effectively engage with the students. Some schools could only give us 3hours of their time which limited our ability to fully exhaust the discussions with the students. A few mentorship programs in some schools were postponed from their initial dates to other dates due to unforeseen changes in school programs. In most schools, the mentorships didn’t involve candidate classes (Senior four Students) because schools wanted them less engaged in any extra-curricular activities and focus their preparations on the upcoming National Examinations.

A student during a discussion on SRGBV

However, with this experience, we have learnt to be more strategic when designing programs in schools. To ensure inclusivity of all classes and students including candidates and have ample time, it’s important to plan such extensive programs/activities during the first two terms.

This intensive process also made us realize that team-work is the absolute recipe for getting any work done with the utmost success. We were able to achieve all this within a short period of time because of the combined efforts of volunteer mentors, CREW staffs, volunteers from respective schools that did the coordination on ground and extra support from various service providers.

Some up-close beautiful mentor-students moments

Children giving birth to children in South Sudan is one of the leading causes of the higher rates of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity. Early pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for girls age 15- 19 in South Sudan. A 15-year-old girl in this country has greater chance of dying in childbirth than of finishing school. Given the limited and poor health facilities and services, majority of these young girls who are married off early and get pregnant at an early age have limited access to decent health services during pregnancy. This is an emotionally difficult and transitioning time for these young girls who happen to be children themselves exposing them to diseases such as obstetric fistula. These young girls are also at higher risks of intimate partner violence and other forms of violence, some find themselves in multiple partnership networks in polygamous and inter-generational marriages, further exposing them to sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. In some communities, inter-generational marriages lead to practice of wife-sharing by men, their sons, brothers and relatives for reproduction and kinship maintenance.

To enlighten South Sudanese on this issue, throughout the month of October, the campaign focused on making the public understand the negative health consequences of Child Marriage and Early Child Bearing.

CREW reached out to the Director General of Ministry of Health, Dr. Alexander Dimiti, Women Reproductive Health Advocate and Former Miss World-South Sudan, Manuela Modong and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Gender Analyst, Viola Riak. All views which were later shared on various social media platforms.

In the conversation with Dr Alexander, he clearly highlighted the consequences of early child bearing and strongly condemned the negative cultural practices where a girl child is considered a “woman” the minute she gets her first period. Starting one’s menstrual cycle does not mean one is now a woman and ready for marriage and to bear children.

UNFPA Gender Analyst, Viola Riak during a radio talkshow

Manuela Modong being someone who engages with adolescent girls and boys in her field of work, she was able to share some of the devastating experiences she has had dealing with these young girls, pointing out the high level of exposure these young girls have to Sexually Transmitted Diseases. In addition, the fact that these pregnant young girls are not able to take care of themselves for example, sleeping under mosquito nets, eating balanced diet, going for antenatal visits, they risk getting pregnancy complications such as premature birth and death of the child or both mother and her baby among others.

On the last talk show, CREW hosted the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Gender Analyst Viola Riak who extensively discussed the role that UNFPA played in developing the Strategic National Action Plan to End Child Marriage in South Sudan by 2030. She also talked about the services provided by UNFPA to girls affected by child marriage and early child bearing in South Sudan; such as strengthening the midwifery in South Sudan to support young mothers, training mid-wives both national and international in 14 centres in the whole of South Sudan to ensure that no mother dies during birth, provision of family planning services among many others.

Poor and limited health facilities and services nationwide, illiteracy that hinders sharing and acceptance of information on sexual and reproductive health specially prevention of unwanted early teenage pregnancy are some of the main reasons South Sudan has the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity as compared to other parts of the world.

Women Reproductive Health Advocate and Former Miss World-South Sudan, Manuela Modong Sharing her experiences working on reproductive health especially with adolescent girls

• Massive awareness raising programs and campaigns nation-wide on the negative health consequences of child marriage and early child bearing. Designing appropriate programs that provide families and communities with information/education and reproductive health services spearheaded by the Ministry of Health
• The government needs to prioritize the health sector in South Sudan and allocate enough funding to ensure health facilities are improved and services offered to citizens especially maternal health care.
• Sex education should be mandatory and incorporated in the education curriculum of South Sudan.

Early this year CREW trained 10 mentors on trauma healing skills, the mentors in return conducted a two-day workshop for 242 adolescent girls from three (3) secondary schools namely; Promised Land, Juba Day and Don Bosco Senior Secondary school. The mentors for the two days while engaging with the girls in smaller groups were able to help the girls understand Trauma and Trauma overview, Symptoms and triggers of trauma, wounded-ness and psychosocial well-being, Mindfulness and the phases of healing, how to respond to trauma with self and how to help others, Emotional regulation, Mentoring and support system, Safety and relationships, IASC guidelines on mental health and Communication and Self-care. These mentors further encouraged those who didn’t feel ready and comfortable enough to share their issues before the group to write on paper and had private one-on-one sessions with each of them over tea and lunch breaks. An approach that gave the girls the confidence to participate and speak up.

students helping the mentors distribute sanitary pads and soap to their fellow students after at the end of the session

As a result of this out of school intimate engagement, the girls’ academic performance immensely improved in their next term. Don Bosco Secondary school had a total number of 21 girls (best performers) leading in all the classes. The school had to organize a celebration to recognize the girls and invited CREW to celebrate with them. “We owe this improvement of these girls’ performance to CREW, this is the fruit of your talking to these girls” says the Principle. They did it, our little angels broke the school record and made us so proud. Sometimes all you need is someone to just talk to, someone who can help you lift some of the baggage you are carrying.

In October, we organized another 3 days’ half day workshops but this time within the school premises and brought the mentors to engage with the girls again. The half day workshops were organized per school. This was simply;

1. To ensure the numbers per mentor were really smaller to give each mentor ample time to engage with each girl, and
2. To instead use the money that would have otherwise been spent on hiring a venue, transportation costs, snacks and refreshments…etc. to procure sanitary towels and washing soap for the girls. Lack of proper menstrual hygiene management products is one of the main challenges that’s is affecting these young girls’ school attendance on monthly basis. Being the final term of the year, and knowing that some of these girls are preparing for their National Examinations, we knew what keeping them in school during these days for those few remaining months would mean to them.

Hellen Hivita, One of CREW mentors during her session with girls at Promised Land Secondary School

These mentors were able to reach out to 455 girls as compared to the 242 girls during the first joint two- day workshop that was held outside the school premises. And each girl got three (3) packets of sanitary pads and two (2) bars of soap at the end of each day.

The girls where excited to have received the sanitary pads because due to poverty many of them lack the basic support from their parents, and if they got it’s never enough.

The girls acknowledged and really appreciated the fact that their mentors are in touch with them. This workshops gave these girls an opportunity to speak up

However, not all of them were able to open up/speak up. Especially the girls who missed the previous two-day workshop and were meeting some of these mentors for the first time. Some really have a lot of stress and trauma from the violence they have experienced and just didn’t feel ready enough to share.

The girls wish to have more trauma healing sessions as the previous ones were very helpful to them and they hope these kinds of engagements will be frequent because building relationships and trust is a process and they need that with their mentors. They also shared how the sessions are helping them build their confidence as they start to feel better after speaking up about some of the things they have never shared with anyone in their lives. The fact that most of their mentors are young women makes them feel comfortable enough and trust that this really is a safe space for them.

CREW mentors distributing sanitary pads and soap after the sessions at Don Bosco Secondary School

Some of their key recommendations included;

• Need for sex education. At family level sex is not a conversation parents/guardians have with their children. On the other hand, the South Sudan education curriculum has not really embedded this aspect in the curriculum. These adolescent girls lack information about sexual and reproductive health in general, unwanted teenage pregnancy is one of the main reasons most of these young girls drop out of school and married off at an early age
• They need to have more trauma healing sessions not in their schools but wish this could be extended to other schools if possible to initiate the idea of ‘speaking up’ among the girls.
• There is need to advocate for reduction of the prices of sanitary towels because many girls across the country can’t afford to buy enough pads because it is too expensive.
• They also suggested that the sessions be in really smaller numbers and a little longer to give each and every one ample time to engage with the mentors