Awam Pakistan

ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN FOR AWARENESS AND MOTIVATION

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Addressing Early-Age Marriages and Promoting Girls’ Rights

As part of the global 16 Days of Activism Campaign, the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM) spearheaded a powerful initiative focused on addressing early-age marriages and advocating for the protection of girls’ rights.

 The campaign was carried out across various community platforms, including schools, colleges, and churches. Through these sessions, AWAM worked to build inclusive environments where the rights, education, and well-being of girls are prioritized and safeguarded.

The sessions were designed to confront the complex socio-economic and socio-cultural barriers that perpetuate early-age marriages and limit women’s participation in national development. Participants were educated about the health consequences of child marriage, including early pregnancies and mental health concerns, and how these issues are intrinsically linked to broader gender inequality. By framing child marriage as both a public health concern and a barrier to empowerment, AWAM successfully connected local awareness to national and global gender equality goals.

A central component of the campaign was raising awareness about recent legislative reforms regarding the legal age of marriage for girls. AWAM placed significant emphasis on these amendments to promote collective accountability among community members. The organization encouraged participants—including youth, parents, educators, and religious leaders—to understand and support the enforcement of these protective laws. This aspect of the campaign helped bridge the gap between policy and practice, empowering communities to play a direct role in upholding girls’ rights.

The campaign’s impact was rooted in its inclusive and multi-stakeholder approach. By initiating dialogue with diverse community actors, AWAM fostered a shared understanding of the harmful effects of early-age marriages from legal, cultural, social, and health perspectives. The strategy of integrating grassroots education with legal literacy ensured that participants not only became informed but were also motivated to take action within their communities. AWAM’s campaign is a model for how community mobilization, legal education, and stakeholder engagement can work in harmony to tackle deeply entrenched societal issues.

Through this initiative, AWAM reaffirmed its long-standing commitment to gender equality and child rights, demonstrating how targeted awareness and inclusive dialogue can catalyze meaningful social transformation.