Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, and has an
HIV infection rate of 10% of the population. A United Nations survey in 2012 found that more than half of the girls in Malawi were married before they reached 18, and ranked Malawi as having one of the highest rates of child marriages in the world, with particularly high rates in rural areas. Young girls, sometimes as young as seven, are subject to sexually abusive traditions that include sexual initiation camps for
kusasa fumbi (cleansing). In 2015, Malawi passed a law that forbade marriage before the age of 18. However, the constitution and the customary law administered by the traditional authorities still say that children can marry if the parents agree. Kachindamoto was disturbed when she found high rates of child marriage in her district. She could not persuade parents to change their views, but had the 50 sub-chiefs in the district agree to abolish early marriage and annul existing unions. She fired four sub-chiefs responsible for areas where child marriages continued, later reinstating them when she had confirmation that these marriages had been annulled. She convinced community leaders to change the civil code to ban early marriage. As of 2019, she had managed to have over 3,500 early marriages annulled. Her actions have brought her international recognition. In June 2015, she told
Maravi Post, "I have terminated 330 marriages, yes, of which 175 were girl-wives and 155 were boy-fathers. I wanted them to go back to school and that has worked." She told
Nyasa Times, "I don't want youthful marriages, they must go to school. We have now set our own laws to govern everybody within my area when it comes to marriages and will leave no sacred cow. ... No child should be found loitering at home; gardening or doing any house hold chores during school time. No village head, GVH or church clergy to officiate marriage before scrutinizing the birth dates of the couple." The marriages that were annulled were customary ones, regulated by chiefs, rather than civil marriages. Chief Kachindamoto worked with groups of mothers, teachers, village development committees, religious leaders and non-government organizations. She met resistance from parents and the couples themselves, particularly poor parents when a dowry had been paid. She felt that the door-to-door campaign was the largest factor in gaining agreement for annulment of the unions.
UN Women and
UNICEF plan to work with traditional leaders elsewhere to replicate the best practices of Chief Kachindamoto in reducing child marriages. Kachindamoto said, "Educate a girl and you educate the whole area ... You educate the world". ==Awards==