Zambia passes landmark Marriage Amendment Act 2023

By Equality Now

LUSAKA – Zambia, January 18, 2024 – In a momentous stride towards safeguarding children’s rights, Zambia’s parliament passed the Marriage (Amendment) Act of 2023 on December 22, 2023. This landmark legislation unequivocally sets the marriageable age at 18, without exception, for all marriages, including customary marriages, representing a significant shift in the nation’s commitment to eradicating child marriage. Research shows that robust laws prohibiting the practice have a positive influence on lowering rates of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy, and children’s general welfare improves.

According to Sally Ncube, the Regional Representative for Southern Africa  at Equality Now, “The legislation directly responds to the nation’s urgent challenges, with Zambia witnessing a staggering 1.7 million child brides, 400,000 of whom were married before age 15.” This alarming statistic underscores a grim reality — whereby every day in the country, over 1,000 girls under the age of 15 face the harmful consequences of child marriage, as reported by UNFPA-UNICEF. Read more

Press release courtesy of Equality Now