RAF Members Meet at Child Marriage Solutions Workshop in Morocco

Casablanca, 25 May 2024 – From May 22 to 24, 14 RAF INGO, NGO, UN, and academic members took part in the Child Marriage Solutions Workshop (CMSW) in Casablanca, Morocco, where more than 45 UNICEF and UNFPA child protection and gender experts, as well as NGO partners, gathered to discuss the preliminary findings from UNICEF Innocenti’s most recent study on child marriage in the Middle East.

UNICEF MENARO, UNFPA ASRO, and UNICEF Innocenti are currently finalizing the multi-country analysis that aims to examine the design, delivery, and impact of child marriage interventions in humanitarian settings in the MENA region.

The purpose of the CMSW meeting , which was co-organized by RAF, was to:

(1) Discuss, validate and contextualize the research findings;

(2) Exchange lessons from programmatic experiences across countries and stakeholders on the prevention of and response to child marriage in humanitarian settings; and

(3) Enhance capacity and demand for the strategic use of evidence to guide action to address child marriage in humanitarian settings.

During the CMSW gathering, RAF members also participated in panel discussions to share key findings on:

(1) Innovative approaches: cash assistance for child Marriage prevention in MENA/Arab States;

(2) Preventing child marriage in times of conflict, crisis, and displacement; and

(3) The impact of climate change on child marriage in MENA/Arab States.

During the last day of the meeting, RAF members held a core members’ meeting to discuss ways to improve RAF Coordination and Engagement. Recommendations from core members included:

(1) Investing further in research collaborations to address lasting data and information gaps related to child marriage understanding and prevention in MENA;

(2) Furthering joint advocacy initiatives, particularly ahead of key events such as the International Day of the Girl Child; and

(3) Strengthening the presence and role of NGOs, CSOs and WROs within the RAF framework.
 

RAF members will meet again in 2025 to discuss the new plan of action.