Child marriage is one of the most shameful practices which authorities have failed to bring to an end despite their best efforts. However, a project aiming to end this social evil in Rajasthan seems to show a positive sign in its mission through the active participation of youth.
Launched on Women's Day in 2019, Naubat Baja mission relies largely on the strength of mobile phones. The project banks on the fact that the cell phone is the youth's favourite mode of communication. It banks on the youth relaying messages against practices such as child marriage and gender discrimination.
The project has been conceived by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and is a joint initiative of the Directorate of Women Empowerment, Government of Rajasthan, the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Foundation and UNFPA, the UN News reported.
According to the UN News, a little girl named Sapna from Jaipur in her early teens was stopped from going to school by her family who was preparing to marry her off, but Shreya, a volunteer with Jeevan Ashram Sansthan (JAS), an NGO that works to empower women and girls, intervened.
"Shreya knew about the Naubat Baja mission and had its phone number. In June 2021, she heard that a minor in Jaipur was to be wed to a 30-year-old man," the UN News said.
It further reported that Sapna's father had taken a loan from the man's family, when he could not repay it, the lender - the would-be groom's father - said he would write off the loan if Sapna married his son.
Shreya called the helpline, and the police swung into action. The wedding was stopped. Sapna was sent to a shelter for two months, but she is now back home and has gone back to the schoolroom, the UN News reported.
In a March 2021 report, the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, pointed out that some 100 million girls are at risk of child marriage over the next decade.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to "school closures, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy, and parental deaths", leaving a further 10 million vulnerable girls facing the possibility of child marriage, as per the UN News.
In Rajasthan, civil society organizations such as JAS are battling the practice and succeeding in spreading awareness about its dangers, through innovative programmes such as Naubat Baja.
The aim of the Naubat Baja programme is not only to counter the practice of child marriage, but also to empower girls in other ways, the UN News reported.
( With inputs from ANI )
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