Project Name: Combating Early Marriage in Bangladesh (CEMB)

Project Introduction: 59% of girls and 4% boys in Bangladesh are married before their 18th birthday and 22% are married before the age of 15. Bangladesh has the third highest prevalence of child marriage in the world, and the second highest absolute number of women married or in a union before the age of 18 globally – 4,382,000
According to UNICEF

• Bangladesh is home to 38 million child brides, including currently married girls along with women who were first married in childhood. Of these, 13 million married before age 15.
• Fifty-one per cent of young women in Bangladesh were married before their 18th birthday.
• Bangladesh ranks among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest levels of child marriage.
• A girl’s risk of child marriage is influenced by certain background characteristics. Child brides are somewhat more likely to reside in rural areas and to live in poorer households, and are less likely to have more than a secondary education.
• Married girls are over four times more likely to be out of school than unmarried girls.
• Nearly 5 in 10 child brides gave birth before age 18 and 8 in 10 gave birth before age 20.
• The practice of child marriage is less common today than in previous generations.
• Declines in the practice have been observed across wealth groups, with more progress seen among the richest
• Meeting the SDG target to end child marriage by 2030, or the national target to end child marriage by 2041, will require a major push. Progress must be at least 8 times faster than the rate observed over the past decade to meet the national target, or 17 times faster to meet the SDG target.

However, Bangladesh is committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) is a non-government development organization of Bangladesh mandated to work with disadvantaged and underprivileged people and highly committed to support government initiatives in achieving SDG.

Project Agreement Number: Yet to be fixed

Overall Objective: This project aims to combat child early and force marriage (CEFM) and reduce the vulnerability of adolescents, particularly girls, of Bangladesh.

Specific Objectives:

• Building the agency of girls and boys in and OOS
• Creating a supportive social environment for married and unmarried girls
• Strengthening the effectiveness and functioning of institutions and governance mechanisms to prevent CEFM.

Outputs:

• CMPCs trained on CMRA 2017, GE, child rights and protection, and their responsibilities as per relevant laws and policies
• District Plan of Action on CMP prepared and implementing aligning with NPA.

Project Components: Increased responsiveness of duty bearers in at national, District, and sub-District levels to prevent and respond to child rights violations, particularly CEFM, among vulnerable girls
Major Activities:

• Orientation workshop with district CMPC committee representatives on CMRA 2017, GE, CP and roles and responsibilities (divisional level)-2 days with 30 participants
• Obtain endorsement of District and administrations to hold orientation  sessions for district-level CMPC members
• Conduct orientation sessions of district-level CMPC members at the district level
• Hold design workshops with District Administration and key stakeholders to identify the list of activities for district-level planned under NPA  for strengthening district-level implementation plans to combat CEFM in all districts of the country
• Arrange a joint visit by National stakeholders to validate the results (MOWCA, GNB, UNICEF, GAC) to validate the implementation of the District Plans
• Provide technical assistance to the district administration for conducting six-monthly and annual progress review meetings of district implementation plans to combat CEFM, including mitigation measures for the impact of natural disasters
• Periodical Plan, Budget and Report prepare and submit

Project Participants (Direct):
Note: Project Participants of this project are CMPC members in district and MoWCA, Divisional & District admin representatives who represent to the committee by designation and position of his/her job. As their job is transferable so male female ratio is not fixed and varied in each month.

Project Duration: From January 2021 to October 2022

Financial partner (Donor): GAC (Global affairs of Canada) via Plan International Bangladesh

Implementing partner (if any): Plan International Bangladesh as lead organization is overall responsible for technical guidance and financial support.

Project Location/s and number of Field offices:  All 12 districts in Dhaka Division (Dhaka, Narshingdi, Kishoregonj, Tangail, Narayangonj Munshigonj, Manikgonj, Rajbari, Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Gopalgonj) and there is no Field office.

Project Budget: Taka in DBT- 13,484,126.00

Number of project staffs and volunteers: 7 Staff Regular (4 Male & 3 Female)

Contact Person: Name & Designation: Md. Feroze Ahmed, Divisional Manager
Email: damcembferoze@gmail.com,  Cell:+8801712040624