Malawi has signed an agreement with international organisation Girls Not Brides to accelerate efforts to end child marriage, with a target of reducing the practice from 38% to 20% by 2030.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 2 November 2026 in the United Kingdom by the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare and Girls Not Brides.
It is intended to support the implementation of Malawi’s National Strategy to End Child Marriage (2024–2030).
The partnership will be implemented through the Malawi Accelerator Programme (MAP), which brings together government institutions, civil society organisations, UN agencies and development partners to coordinate interventions aimed at ending child marriage.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the ministry’s Principal Secretary, Dr Esmie Kainja, said the agreement reflected a shared commitment to protecting girls from child marriage.
“The success of this MoU should not be measured by signing alone, but by the actions it enables, the resources it helps mobilise, the partnerships it strengthens and the difference it makes in the lives of girls,” she said.
Dr Kainja also called for sustained collaboration, adequate funding and coordinated action among stakeholders to ensure the strategy achieves its objectives.
Girls Not Brides Co-CEO Lara van Kouterik commended Malawi for adopting the national strategy and pledged the organisation’s support for its implementation.
Child marriage remains a challenge in Malawi, with efforts to address it focusing on tackling its underlying causes, protecting girls’ rights and improving their access to education and other opportunities.
The new partnership is expected to strengthen these efforts as Malawi works towards its 2030 target.
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