Girls roster assessment conducted to address early marriage in Western Area

_{^{Enumerators collecting information about girls in GAC operational areas. Photo credit:  Adama Bangura - Save the Children}}

On Friday 27th November 2020, eight enumerators helped the Global Alliance Canada (GAC) team complete a week-long Girls rooter assessment to gather data on the most deprived and vulnerable adolescents at risk of child marriage, in seven communities in the Western Area Rural District.

These communities on the outskirts of Freetown – Waterloo/Peninsular, are among the poorest communities where child marriage is prevalent. Sierra Leone has the 19th highest child marriage rate in the world, with 13% of girls married by age 15, and 39% by age 18.  And about 29% of early marriages in the country happen in these communities.

The GAC program, which is a three-year program seeks to help very young adolescent and older adolescents to decide their future and fulfill their human rights including decision on marriage.