PILOTING INNOVATIVE IDEAS (PII) TO ADDRESS KEY ISSUES OF KHYBER

PAKHTUNKHWA
SDU, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL
1. Idea / Project Title: Lets Girl be a girl not bride

2. Applicant's Details:

a) Principal Innovator:
Name: Waheed Ullah (Individual Consultant)
Qualification: Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Institution/Organization: Liaison Corporation
Present Position: Manager Program (Corporate & Social Events)
Postal Address: TF 24, Deans Trade Center, Peshawar Cantt, Peshawar
Telephone: 0346-9120008 Fax: ______ E-mail: waheed@liaisoncorporation.com

b) Co-Innovator / collaborator :___________________________________________

(Information as above)

c) Other local team members:

(Information as above)

3. Overseas Cooperating innovator/organization:

Name:____________________________________________________________
Qualification:______________________________________________________
Institution/Organization: ________________________________________________
Postal Address: ______________________________________________________
Telephone: ________________Fax: _____________ E-mail: __________________

4. Duration of idea implementation: _____8 Months_________________________________

5. Abstract/ Justification:

Child marriage, defined as a formal marriage or informal union before age 18, is a reality for both
boys and girls, although girls are disproportionately the most affected. Child marriage is
widespread and can lead to a lifetime of disadvantage and deprivation.
Each year, approximately15 million girls are married before they turn 18. Thats one in three girls
in the developing world who lose their opportunities to play, to go to school, to dream about what
their futures might hold for them. Their options narrow, their life paths are set for them as child
brides, child mothers, domestic servants.
Evidence shows that girls who marry early often abandon formal education and become
pregnant. Maternal deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth is an important component of
mortality for girls aged 15-19 worldwide, accounting for 70,000 deaths each year

Child marriage often results in separation from family and friends and lack of freedom to
participate in community activities, which can all have major consequences on girls mental and
physical wellbeing. Child marriage is not a religious practice it is a tradition. There are many good
traditions that bind communities together. But traditions are also not static they evolve. Traditions
that are harmful, that have outlived their purpose, must be challenged. Why arent we doing more
to change these trends, especially when we know that child marriage is preventable?
Lets join hands against the culture of child brides and Let Girls be Girls, Not Brides .Keeping in
view the bad consequences of child marriages, this activity is designed to highlight the issue
raised and its effects on Girls and society as a whole. Main theme will consist of a theatrical play
based on child marriage and its consequences which will be performed in front of audience.
Theatre will be used as a tool for changing the attitudes towards child marriage practices.

Besides theatrical play, speeches on Human Rights/ Women Rights, Laws on harmful practices
against women specifically marriage protection Acts in Pakistan, will also be delivered by
experts. A religious Scholar wouldalso be invited to enlighten the audience aboutthe issue from
theIslamicperspective. A documentaryon child marriages willalsobe screened. At the end
question answer session will take place will which gave audience an opportunity to increase their
knowledge and clear their misunderstandings.

1. Awareness sessions in all divisions

2. Theater performances in all divisions
3. Girls summit

6. Objectives:
To end domestic abuses
To prevent Injuries in child birth
Effectively ending their education

7. Plan of Work:

Years Activities Locations Methodology/ Procedure

Awareness
Seminars, Trainings, Summit,
Sessions, Social
I All Divisions Workshops, Theater, Role Play &
Mobilization &
Art
Sensitization
II

8. Proposed Budget:
(Rs. millions)
S. No. Object YEAR-I YEAR-II TOTAL
1 Operating Cost 2.80 million 2.80 million
2 Capital Cost 0.60 million 0.60 million
Total 3.40 million 3.40 million

9. Sustainability and linkages with the public sector institutions.

Governments, whether as donors or as implementers, need to address some tough questions if
they are going to make genuine progress. Do their education programs include special outreach
to married girls? Do national plans of action on gender-based violence and women, peace, and
security include efforts/steps to end child marriage? Do their police training programs on gender-
based violence include policing methods to fight child marriage, such as prosecuting local
officials who sign marriage certificates for underage girls?

Efforts to end child marriage also mean the donors should press governments to meet their
obligations under international law to eliminate the practice. Key international human rights
treaties include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of
the Child. While there is growing evidence of the effectiveness of a number of community-level
approaches, government cooperation, law enforcement, and national-level initiatives are key to
scale and sustainability.

Too often, nongovernmental organizations and donors support innovative programs, but local
government officials undermine their impact by ignoring or even facilitating child marriage (for
example, by changing the age on a birth or marriage certificate in return for bribes) or local police
fail to enforce laws that make child marriage a crime.

10. Source / origin of idea: Whether the proposed intervention under the idea is new or
existing anywhere at the national or International level?
Pakistan U.S Alumni Network (PUAN) has already implemented this idea at National level.