_{Photo: Shakira Sutherland, Executive Directive for National Commission for Families and Children}

by Charles Gladden

BELMOPAN, Thurs. Aug. 29, 2024

The National Commission for Families and Children (NCFC) held a reform session to end child marriages in Belize on Thursday, August 29, in Belmopan

A reform campaign to end child marriages was initially introduced during a debate at the Children’s Parliament last year, which sparked the interest of legislators to make the legal marriage age in Belize set at 18 years old.

Statistics show that child marriage is prevalent in Belize, primarily in the indigenous ethnic groups in the Stann Creek and Toledo Districts, particularly in rural areas, according to Shakira Sutherland, Executive Director of the National Commission for Families and Children.

“There are several different challenges that children who are married young will face, and so we want to try to avoid these challenges so that it can make a better future for all of our Belizean children,” she said.

“In the Caribbean, we are like the second, the country second with the most child marriages and early unions recorded. So, it’s alarming for our country, and so we are taking up this opportunity to make changes to our legislation,” she added.

Apart from campaigning to end child marriages, the sessions also highlighted changing the consent age from 16 to 18 years old.

“This stemmed from the Children’s Parliament last year; and this was the bill that the children had debated. They wanted the legal age to be changed from 16 to 18; and so it’s just a work in progress, and we are championing and we are ensuring that the children’s voices are heard through us, you know, making and championing these legislations,” Sutherland said.

The reform campaign session was done throughout the country, with Belmopan being its final spot.