US embassy cable - 05HARARE424

UNCLAS HARARE 000424 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR BNEULING 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVELLE, D. TEITELBAUM 
USDOC FOR ROBERT TELCHIN, TREASURY FOR OREN WYCHE-SHAW, 
PASS USTR FOR FLORIZELLE LISER, STATE PASS USAID FOR 
MARJORIE COPSON, US MISSION GENEVA FOR JOHN CHAMBERLIN, 
USDOL FOR ROBERT YOUNG, G/IWI FOR LYNN KHADIAGALA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, ECON, ELAB, SCUL, SOCI, KWMN, ZI, Humanitarian Situation, HIV/AIDS 
SUBJECT: CHILD MARRIAGE IN ZIMBABWE 
 
REF: STATE 36341 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: The GOZ and NGOs in Zimbabwe have not 
focused significantly on the issue of child marriage to date, 
focusing more on the effects of households headed by children 
in a society devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) The following corresponds to questions in paragraph 
6 of reftel: 
 
A) Zimbabwe has two forms of marriage, civil marriage and 
customary marriage.  The legal age for a civil marriage is 16 
for girls and 18 for boys with no separate lower legal age 
for marriage with parental consent.  Customary marriage, duly 
recognized under the Customary Marriages Act, does not 
provide for a minimum marriage age for either boys or girls. 
However, the Sexual Offenses Act prohibits sexual relations 
with anyone under 16 years of age. 
 
B) According to Save the Children Norway, UNICEF, the 
Ministry of Public Service and Social Welfare, and the Child 
Protection Officer for the Zimbabwe Women,s Lawyers 
Association, there are no good statistics on child marriage 
prevalence in Zimbabwe.  These child welfare stakeholders 
concentrate on more pressing problems affecting children, 
including especially the problem of households headed by 
children, an unfortunate byproduct of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. 
(N.B. Zimbabwe has one of the highest infection rates in the 
world, with more than a quarter of the adult population HIV 
positive, and suffers nearly 100,000 deaths a year as a 
result of the disease.)  However, a number of the 
stakeholders advised that they do occasionally see underage 
marriages in the course of their other work. 
 
C) There are currently no USG-funded initiatives directly 
aimed at child marriage in Zimbabwe.  Given our limited 
bilateral relationship, USG assistance is limited primarily 
to humanitarian endeavors, such as HIV/AIDS assistance, and 
democracy and governance issues. 
SCHULTZ