Developing a Child Marriage Elimination Strategy for Yobe State

Yobe State has among the highest child marriage rates in Nigeria, and developing a professionally designed elimination strategy requires demographic evidence, institutional capacity assessment, and community engagement that translates into actionable programming. This study developed a Child Marriage Elimination Strategy for Yobe State, drawing on community surveys in Damaturu, Geidam, and Nguru LGAs, institutional capacity assessment of relevant state agencies, and community and stakeholder consultations. A professional strategy development methodology was applied, incorporating analysis of available DHS and MICS child marriage data, structured consultations with 20 state officials, 15 community and religious leaders, and 8 NGO programme implementers, and benchmarking against UNICEF-supported national child marriage action plans. The strategy developed addresses six programmatic domains: girls' education and retention, community and religious leader engagement, legal and justice system reform, economic support for at-risk families, reproductive and maternal health, and evidence and data monitoring. Each domain includes responsible agencies, indicators, budget estimates, and 5-year milestones. A monitoring and evaluation framework with quarterly reporting requirements is specified. Expert review by ten child protection and demography specialists confirmed the strategy's evidence base and programmatic coherence. The study recommends formal adoption by the Yobe State Executive Council, UNICEF and UNFPA technical support for implementation, and integration of child marriage reduction targets into the state's SDG Voluntary Local Review.

Keywords: child marriage elimination, Yobe State, girls' education, child protection, North East Nigeria