LUSAKA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday said the government is in the process of harmonizing laws in order to strengthen the fight against child marriages.
The move to harmonize laws was aimed at sealing all the gaps in the fight against child marriages in the southern African nation.
In remarks delivered when he met traditional leaders who have returned from a conference on ending child marriages in Nigeria, the Zambian leader said key government departments will soon come up with strategies and implement recommendations made so far to end child marriages and teenage pregnancies, according to state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation.
While acknowledging that the country has made strides in the fight against early child marriages, the Zambian leader said more still needed to be done and urged the traditional leaders to ensure zero tolerance to child marriages in their chiefdoms.
Head of Delegation Chief Chamuka told the Zambian leader that traditional leaders on the African continent agreed to break the silence on early child marriages.
He said there was need for the scaling up of resources in support of African leaders' action plan to address child marriages and promote gender equality at all levels.
Zambia has over the years been experiencing the problem of child marriages involving girls below the age of 18, especially in rural parts of the southern African nation.
The country has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world, with 42 percent of women aged 20 to 24 years married before 18 years.
