US embassy cable - 05BUCHAREST659

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ROMANIA: CHILD MARRIAGE SURVEY

Identifier: 05BUCHAREST659
Wikileaks: View 05BUCHAREST659 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Bucharest
Created: 2005-03-16 15:40:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Tags: ECON ELAB PHUM PGOV SCUL SOCI KWMN RO
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.


 
UNCLAS BUCHAREST 000659 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/IWI L KHADIAGALA; EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ELAB, PHUM, PGOV, SCUL, SOCI, KWMN, RO 
SUBJECT: ROMANIA: CHILD MARRIAGE SURVEY 
 
REF: STATE 036341 
 
Post's response regarding child marriage in Romania follows 
the sequence of questions posed in Reftel: 
 
A)  The legal age of marriage in Romania is 18 years of age. 
Girls may marry at age 16 with parental consent.  A girl may 
also receive a waiver to marry as young as 15, with parental 
consent and the permission of the "Autoritatea Tutelara," 
the local authority that oversees the welfare of minors, 
disabled persons and others requiring social protection. 
 
B)  There is no statistical analysis available on underage 
marriage in Romania.  Most reported instances of child 
marriage occur within the Roma community, where early 
marriage is the tradition.  Human rights groups and the 
media report that such marriages occur frequently and 
without notice or intervention by authorities. 
 
C)  Currently there are no U.S. nor locally funded 
initiatives in Romania to reduce or address child marriage. 
Florin Moisa, Director of the Roma Resource Center in Cluj, 
a member of the "Soros Open Network," noted that one of the 
best ways to combat child marriage in the Roma community is 
to promote education as an alternative.  Moisa stated that 
this could be achieved with increased funding and support 
for the "education mediator" program sponsored in part by 
the Romanian Ministry of Education.  The education mediators 
are Roma selected from within the Roma community who are 
trained to liaise with school administrators and Roma 
parents.  The goal of the education mediators is to help 
Roma children stay in school, finish secondary education, 
and learn trade skills before marrying. 
 
Delare 

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