BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
The Solomon Islands Endim Vaelens Agenstim Pikinini (SIEVAP) project -Make It 18 Report stems from a task of the Solomon Islands government that aims to change the Islanders’ Marriage Act, which was put in place in 1945, almost 70 years ago.
The report was handed over to the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs (MJLA) Permanent Secretary (PS) George Hoa’au Friday last week.
The Islanders’ Marriage Law allows people to get married as young as 15 years old.
“Now, the government of Solomon Islands tasked the Solomon Islands Law Reform Commission to inquire into whether the act is consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and recommended changes to this law. So, to contribute to this effort, the SIEVAP Partner Coalition undertook a series of community consultations in collaboration with the Law Reform Commission office,” said Ellen Siale Kahui SIEVAP Project Manager.
The SIEVAP Coalition Make It 18 Advocacy Campaign advocates to protect children against child marriage.
The SIEVA Coalition works closely with child protection stakeholder partners from the government sector plus the civil society sector to implement its project deliverables.
“Under the SIEVAP Coalition projects, we have three outcomes. Outcome one is focused on legislative reform. Outcome two is more focused on empowering children to be informed about child rights and advocacy. And through outcome two, we established our Children’s Advocacy Committee.
“Outcome three in the SIEVAP project is focused on training faith leaders as well as community leaders, parents, and caregivers on child protection, as well as strengthening community reporting and referral pathways for child abuse cases,” said Ms. Kahui.
“So, the Make It 18 Advocacy Campaign stems from the ageing need to ensure children are protected from early marriage, and this advocacy campaign comes under outcome one of the SIEVA project,” she said.
The SIEVAP Project is a coalition project between the New Zealand and Solomon Islands agencies of Save the Children, World Vision and Child Fund.
The four-year project, 2022-2025, is funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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