Collaborative Efforts to Reduce Child Marriage in Lamongan

Caption: SMPN 2 Deket in Lamongan, East Java, used the reproductive and sexual health module during the school orientation period on July 17, 2024.

Indonesia has committed to eliminating child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM) by 2030. The government targeted reducing CEFM prevalence to 8.74% in 2024. Although the target was achieved in 2023, with 6.92% prevalence in 2023, eliminating it in the next six years would still be a challenge. East Java is one of the highest CEFM prevalence provinces. According to data from the provincial Religious Court, in 2021, there were 17,151 underage marriages in East Java, which continuously decreasing 12,334 in 2023. Although the number has decreased, the number of cases remains concerning, thus requiring USAID ERAT to approach this issue from multiple angles.

In response to the CEFM issue, the Governor of East Java issued a Circular Letter in 2021, calling for all regents and mayors to take measures to reduce child marriage prevalence. As a result, several districts implemented policies related to child protection and child-friendly district initiatives. In Lamongan, facilitated by USAID ERAT since mid-2022, the local government has produced two regent regulations concerning Village Authority in the Acceleration of Stunting Reduction and the 2023-2026 Regional Action Plans for Child Marriage Prevention. 

Related to the first regulation, USAID ERAT also successfully supported the local government to launch SADEL CEPAK (Model Village for Child Marriage Prevention). This initiative promotes engagement with village governments and communities, including religious and community leaders, to raise awareness of the risks of CEFM and to collaboratively prevent it. SADEL CEPAK requires the issuance of a village regulation governing recommendations for underage marriage dispensation. To be legally marriage, an underage couple needs a dispensation issued by the court (religious court in the case of Moslems) which requires a letter of recommendation from their village heads.  

Lamongan’s Action Plans for Child Marriage Prevention include the promotion of reproductive and sexual health education. A lack of comprehensive information on sexual reproductive health and rights, including limited exposure to accurate and reliable knowledge about the harmful impacts of CEFM, has been known to dampen efforts to reduce CEFM. Throughout 2023, 307 school-aged children in Lamongan requested marriage dispensations, some due to extramarital pregnancies. 

Since then, the District Education Office has taken proactive steps in addressing CEFM issues through several approaches, such as providing training and support to teachers on reproductive health and integrating reproductive health education into the local curriculum. Further, the Education Office worked with the local Indonesian Medical Doctor Association to conduct reproductive health socialization for adolescents. Later, this collaboration was carried out based on the Cooperation Agreement (PKS) in 2024 to provide reproductive health knowledge as early as possible to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates, as well as stunting and CEFM prevalences. 

USAID ERAT supports the government of Lamongan in integrating reproductive health education into school curricula and developing a culturally sensitive, medically accurate, and age-appropriate learning module. In the first five months of 2024, USAID ERAT facilitated the local government in formulating a learning module for science teachers at junior high schools, conducting public consultation of the draft, and finalizing it. In June 2024, the Head of Lamongan’s Education Office issued a circular letter requiring all public middle schools to incorporate the module in their school orientation programs. By August, the module has been socialized to all 48 public junior high schools in Lamongan. 

In parallel, USAID ERAT encouraged Lamongan’s Women Empowerment and Child Protection Office to coordinate with the Religious Court as they are the one that issues CEFM dispensation. The process led to an agreement that the Religious Court would refer any proposal for CEFM dispensation to the Child Protection Office to conduct an assessment and counseling for the couple. The collaboration also led to the development of a digital platform for the registration of counseling services. The government of Lamongan is rewarded by Kompas TV as a Child-Friendly District in September 2024. 

The case reflects the importance of collaborative governance in addressing CEFM issues. It requires collaboration among different local government offices, with the village governments and the religious court, as well as with the village community and religious leaders. Such efforts have significantly reduced the marriage dispensation issued by the Religious Court of Lamongan from 462 in 2022 to 280 cases in 2023.

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