Prevention of Early Marriage

Md. Aktaruzzman is a young Active Citizen who is working to prevent early marriages in Bangladesh. He and his group members have saved 3 early marriages so far, and they are struggling to save more. Read what Md. Aktaruzzman has to say about his Social Action Project:

Early marriages are a big problem in our community. It affects the maternal health severely and hampers the normal physical, mental and emotional health of the females. They become pregnant at a very young age which is why the death rate of mother and infant is higher in early marriages. And so for this reason we, the young Active Citizens, chose the prevention of early marriages as our Social Action Project (SAP).

We surveyed 100 families in our local area and began discussing the tabooed topic of early marriages with them. We raised awareness about the harmful side-effects of early marriages and advised the parents to send their daughter to school instead. We started campaigning against child marriage and staged dramas to convince elders that early marriage are not advisable.

My group members and I left no stone unturned in striving to stop early marriages. As a result, we were successful in stopping 3 childhood marriages. The girls are acquiring education these days.

This Social Action Project has polished our leadership skills and has increased our knowledge about different community issues. It has enabled us to take responsibility. The community people have begun to trust us and they have requested us to try to solve other prevailing community issues too.