Reducing Child, Early and Forced Marriage (R-CEFM)

OVERVIEW

USAID’s Breakthrough Action Nepal's Reducing Child, Early and Forced Marriage (R-CEFM) assessment showed that entrenched social, cultural, and gender norms are barriers to reducing early marriage. To address these, we trained local government authorities and leaders to work with community members and shift their norms.

HIGHLIGHT

USAID’s R-CEFM activity increased the number of municipalities performing evidence-based interventions to prevent CEFM in communities. These interventions increased the school year completion rate for grade 6, 8, and 10 girls in targeted municipalities through START remedial education support.

USAID’s Breakthrough Action Nepal’s Reducing Child, Early and Forced Marriage (R-CEFM) Bolsters local government’s capacity:

USAID builds the capacity of newly elected ward, municipal, and provincial officials, civil servants, and other community actors to advocate, design, and budget for local activities to reduce CEFM. USAID achieves this with training and technical support through an on-the-job collaboration approach at the municipal level. This approach supports social sector plans in education and health that embrace evidence-based strategies dedicated to reducing CEFM and promoting access to reproductive health services.

Protects disadvantaged groups:

USAID supports the implementation of municipal and provincial-level initiatives to reduce CEFM. USAID provides grants to community structures (e.g., ward committees, school management committees, and local organizations) to implement evidence-based interventions identified by municipalities and driven by local data to reduce child marriage.

Strengthens education resilience:

USAID supports increased grade completion through non-formal and remedial education for adolescent girls in grades 6-10 who may have fallen behind due to prolonged school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, USAID supports at-risk adolescent girls and boys to continue their studies and thus delay early marriage.