By Rocio Tjalve | Marketing Analyst
Spreeha’s Journey of Hope project has established Youth Clubs to provide young people with a safe space aimed at implementing advocacy activities to address various issues affecting adolescents, such as child marriage, drug addiction, and sexual abuse. JOH also organized activities to prevent these issues.
Sifa, a 17-year-old student from Sherpur, was pressured into child marriage by her parents despite it being illegal. Through her involvement in a youth development initiative, Mayer Bandhan Kishori Club, run by Spreeha Journey of Hope, Sifa was able to raise the issue with other members of her club. They took it as a challenge to stop the marriage. Despite initial resistance from Sifa's guardians, the club members and the local community were able to persuade them to halt the marriage.
Sifa is now able to attend school regularly and pursue her education without interruption, highlighting the importance of community support in preventing child marriage and protecting the rights of young girls.
According to UNICEF, if we want to meet Bangladesh’s national target to end child marriage by 2041, it will require a major push; at least eight times faster than we have worked so far. Youth clubs, like those at Spreeha, are helping to end this practice in Bangladesh. Last year, 60 youths were enrolled under Spreeha’s Journey of Hope Project in underserved areas, where this practice is more prevalent.
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