What It Takes to Address Child Marriage in the DRC — Don Prémices Speaks
- Mar 6
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 7
Q. What do you find are the major causes of Child Marriage in your country from your field work?
The major causes of child marriage are poverty– the financial difficulties faced by parents, and the lack of parental education. Parents with lower levels of education are more likely to arrange child marriages compared to educated parents. Additionally, existing social norms here give prominence to boys’ education while neglecting girls’ education. People here believe that girls are meant for domestic work and do not need to pursue studies.
War also has a direct impact on child marriage. During times of conflict, people are on move and are forced to stay in different places. When families are occupied with survival and other engagements, girls are often left alone at their place of residence. At such times, any man who provides help, money, or attention may attract them, leading to relationships that can result in adolescent pregnancies. This situation may also increase the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among girls. Furthermore, during such crises, families may be willing to marry off their daughters in return for a meagre amount of money.
Q. What are the approaches of your sensitisation programmes?
We try to sensitise a community through four ways :
Awareness workshops for students and educators in schools
Focus group discussions, where we engage in dialogue with families
Workshops for adolescents and parents
Hosting a regular event called ‘Day of Reflection’ where the participants are encouraged to think of the current drivers of child marriage and reflect on its harmful consequences for children .
Q. What are the major asks of the community to end Child Marriage in their region?
The majority of the people here are living in poverty. When we engage with them, some of them assume that we can provide them monetary aid, as they want to escape the vulnerable situations they are facing. Education is not free here, so they need money to educate their children. Additionally, they seek support in skill development to earn a sustainable livelihood.
Q. According to you, how far are the communities learning from your sensitisation programmes?
The people here are receptive to the learning from these programmes. I believe the awareness sessions and workshops are proving to be effective for them. One positive change I would like to share is that earlier, adolescent girls who experienced early motherhood were often not accepted by society. However, after these sensitisation programmes, attitudes have changed. Parents are now sending their daughters back to school and supporting them to become financially independent.
Another inspiring story I would like to mention is that one of our partners has set up a shop that is managed by 20 pregnant adolescent girls, enabling them to earn an income and build financial independence.
Q. Do you have a message or request to the international community?
I would like to request the international community to ensure better security in our country and to help restore peace. I would also like to request support for girls’ education. We need the government and civil society organisations to assist with girls’ education, providing financial aid to vulnerable families, to provide education opportunities to children and improve their overall quality of life. On an urgent basis, support is also needed to strengthen and stabilise the long-term economic situation.
On an urgent basis, we need to stabilise the economic situation to support the nurturing of our children, and also ensure that girls become financially independent.
About Don Prémices Mufungizi
Don Prémices Mufungizi is the President and Founder of AGAPAO-VISION, based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As part of Just Rights for Children's Child Marriage Free World initiative, Mufungizi and his team participated in the 100 Days of Action campaign, conducting 13 community mobilisation events against child marriage — reaching 2,077 participants in the DRC.
About the Interviewers
Gayatri Menon is a development professional and researcher with 10 years of experience working with children. She is currently a Consultant for Just Rights for Children's global initiative, Child Marriage Free World campaign, where she leads partner mobilisation across 40+ countries. She specialises in programme management, monitoring & evaluation, research, and stakeholder coordination across government, NGOs, and international platforms. She submitted her PhD Thesis in Social Work at the University of Delhi.
Aswathy Nair is a strategic communications and content professional with over 7.5 years of experience across government, media, and development sectors. Proven expertise in public communication campaigns, content development, media coordination, and multilingual storytelling. Experienced in working with government institutions, international stakeholders, and media houses to design, execute, and evaluate high-impact communication initiatives.
