Morocco Launches Integrated Plan to Combat Child Marriage

The public prosecutor’s office is making the fight against child marriage its main focus. During a national meeting organized by the presidency of the ministry, an integrated action plan to combat child marriage was presented in Skhirat, reports Médias24. According to the document, several strategic objectives have been defined. The first is focused on developing plans and programs to address the cultural normalization, by raising awareness of the harms resulting from child marriages, particularly the adverse effects on the physical and psychological health of the minor and their overall social cost.

The Ministry of National Education will be tasked with including this issue in school programs and curricula; the Ministry of Health will raise awareness on sexual and reproductive health and birth control; and the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Inclusion and Family will support associations engaged in the fight against child marriage and engage men as key actors for this cause.

The second objective is focused on adopting a public policy and an integrated strategy to combat child marriage. In this regard, the action plan recommends the implementation of compulsory schooling and its generalization, raising the compulsory schooling age to 18, adopting a standardized form for the medical examinations prior to approving child marriages, etc.

As for the third objective, it is planned to adopt the best judicial practices, the generalization of which would strengthen the guarantees surrounding the action to combat this phenomenon. The fourth objective concerns the adoption of a legislative amendment. The plan suggests giving local courts the jurisdiction to rule on the marriage of a minor, regulating the need to conduct investigations on the minor and the suitor, and criminalizing child marriages without judicial authorization.