"The data we have is that in every 12 minutes, in Mozambique, a girl under the age of 18 gets married", declared Santos Simione, secretary of CECAP, during a press conference in Maputo, together with the international organization Girls Not Brides (GNB), which ended a visit to the country today.

"The visit is part of the perspective of Mozambique being one of the priority countries in which GNB is investing through the provision of financial and technical support to CECAP during the period 2022-2025", explained the Mozambican institution.

The two institutions are involved in promoting the project to end early unions in Mozambique, a problem that the president of the coalition, Ferosa Zacarias, admits requires updated data on the reality in the country.

This reality is also influenced by the humanitarian crises caused by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, or by climate change, she said.

"In numerical terms, we, as a coalition and as a country, do not have it. The data we have dates back to 2015, before the approval of the Law on the Prevention and Combat of Early Unions", she acknowledged.

In October 2019, the Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, enacted and ordered the publication of the Law on the Prevention and Combat of Early Unions, approved in July of the same year by parliament, eliminating marital unions involving people under 18 years of age and punishing with a sentence of up to 12 years in prison the adult who marries the minor.

This penalty is also applicable to adults who participate in the preparations for the engagement and to any adult who agrees to live in a union arranged by other people, when they are aware that the partner is under 18 years of age, but the sanctions are also provided for public officials, religious leaders and traditional leaders who celebrate marriages involving minors.

Despite this legal framework, the secretary of that Mozambican coalition stated that the problem remains as serious as in the past: "Our general understanding, based on the work we are doing, is that despite having this law, the problem of early unions continues to be a concern".

CECAP also defended the need to create specialized programs to support and protect girls and women in conflict zones.

"We have to ensure that all international organizations that are working in emergencies [in Cabo Delgado] apply the law", said Santos Simione.

According to the Mozambican authorities, the country continues to register high rates of prevalence of early unions, with almost half of the girls getting married before reaching the age of 18.

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