President Hakainde Hichilema has officially launched the Presidential Champions’ 2025 Report on Ending Child Marriage in Africa on the sidelines of the 39th Ordinary Session of the General Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa.
The 2025 report, titled “Towards a Transformative Agenda to End Child Marriage in Africa,” is aimed at galvanizing renewed political commitment and coordinated strategic action across the continent to eliminate child marriage and protect the rights of young girls.
Speaking during the high-level engagement, President Hichilema reaffirmed Zambia’s dedication to advancing policies and programs that safeguard girls’ education and empowerment, describing the fight against child marriage as central to Africa’s sustainable development agenda.
Government has underscored the Keeping Girls in School and Beyond (KGS) initiative under the Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods for Human Capital Project (GEWEL 2) as a critical intervention in addressing child marriage.
The GEWEL 2 project, implemented by the Government of the Republic of Zambia in partnership with the World Bank Group and other cooperating partners, provides annual bursaries to approximately 228,000 girls to support their educational attainment and empowerment.
Authorities noted that the KGS component, combined with Zambia’s Re-entry Policy, ensures that girls who fall pregnant are allowed to return to school and complete their education. This approach aims to de-incentivize teenage pregnancy as a permanent life outcome and contributes to the country’s commitment to eliminate child marriage by 2030 under United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality.
Key implementing and cooperating partners include the Ministry of Education Zambia, Ministry of Health Zambia, the Gender Division Zambia, the Embassy of Ireland in Zambia, and the Embassy of Sweden in Lusaka.
The launch signals Zambia’s continued leadership role in championing policies aimed at ending child marriage across Africa while strengthening educational and economic opportunities for girls and young women.
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