By Ramatoulie Jawo
A survey, conducted by Wassu Gambia Kafo, has revealed that 72% of Gambians consider Child Marriage as a harmful traditional practice.
Wassu Gambia Kafo, a pioneering NGO in the fight against harmful traditional practices in The Gambia, on Wednesday presented the results of their project “Knowledge for change” at a local hotel in the Senegambia tourist area.
The project, which is funded by the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation based in Barcelona, has carried out a series of activities aimed at stopping harmful practices.
“The project on Child Marriage revolves around a survey of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) carried out in all regions of the country and that has covered all kinds of ages and ethnicities. The study has reached 200 men and 200 women who have been asked about, “
“72℅ of Gambians have the opinion that Child Marriage is a harmful traditional practice. A similar percentage consider this practice should not continue, and most of them, especially women, believe that trainings and sensitization are a better way than legislation to end Child marriage,” the coordinator of Wassu Gambia Kafo, Segga Sanyang, said.
The survey further revealed that child marriage is mostly practice by Sarahules, Fulas, and Mandinkas.
“Serahules (75.8%), Fula (65.9%), Mandinkas (62.5%) reported coming from families/households who practice child marriage compared with respondents from other ethnicities,” Mr Sanyang disclosed.
Senior Trainer for the organization, Salieu J. Kandeh, disclosed that the results of the survey have been the main input to implement their first Pilot Trainings on Child Marriage to students and teachers at the Gambia College, where he says they trained 10 lecturers and 60 students.
The Wassu Gambia Kafo project is funded by the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation, based in Barcelona, Spain. The project which started operation in 2021 aims to eradicate harmful practices such as child marriage, among others.