Many families consider child marriage a way to solve problems, but it instead creates much bigger ones, said Mahdi Amin, spokesperson of the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Many families think they are doing something good by arranging a child marriage. But in reality, this so-called good deed destroys a girl’s future,” he said.
Mahdi Amin was speaking at the launch of the BBC Media Action’s “Child, Not Bride” campaign at The Westin Dhaka on Monday.
The initiative is being implemented with support from Plan International and funded by Norway’s state broadcaster.
He said preventing child marriage requires identifying the reasons behind the practice in different areas and adopting policies accordingly.
“Unfortunately, a section of our population encourages child marriage. We need to raise public awareness on a large scale,” he said.
He also said many people unknowingly commit an offence by arranging child marriages, believing they are resolving family problems.
Highlighting women’s future role in society, Mahdi Amin said women would increasingly take leadership positions in family, social, administrative and professional spheres. He said the government had introduced the Family Card programme as part of its efforts to empower women.
He said initiatives to establish a separate ministry for women and increase women’s employment and empowerment in overseas employment and the garment sector were taken during the previous BNP government.
The government has already made undergraduate education free for girls and plans to extend the facility to postgraduate education, he said. Other initiatives include midday meals, school uniforms and bags for primary students, identifying children at risk of dropping out and providing alternative skills training to students who perform poorly in SSC examinations.
Norwegian Ambassador to Bangladesh Haakon Arald Gulbrandsen said child marriage prevents girls from continuing their education, limits their potential and perpetuates poverty.
Education, awareness and the media have important roles to play in preventing child marriage, he said, adding that mainstream and social media can help shape public opinion and bring about positive changes in social behaviour.
BBC Media Action Bangladesh Country Director and Regional Director for Southeast Asia Md Al Mamun said changing social attitudes and collective efforts were necessary to tackle child marriage.
“Child marriage is a multidimensional social problem,” he said, drawing on the organisation’s field experience.
In many cases, even when a child marriage is stopped, the girl may later be married elsewhere, he said. The challenge, therefore, is not only to stop individual marriages but also to address the underlying causes.
The campaign will feature awareness messages, songs, public service announcements and other promotional content. It formally began at 7:30pm Monday through the official Facebook, YouTube and TikTok channels of ‘Hello Check’.
