Dr Fry was recently awarded a contract with UNICEF Jordan to develop an actionable multi-sectoral strategy, working with the Ministry of Social Development, to address key social and economic factors leading to child marriage in Jordan.
Though child marriage negatively affects the individual, wider community and society, the practice remains prevalent in Jordan.[1] Building from Dr Fry’s previous work on social norms that underpin violence against children in Zimbabwe, the study – which will involve qualitative participatory focus groups with adolescents with a special focus on Syrian and Palestinian refugee camps – aims to determine how young people and their families make decisions around child marriage in order to inform policies and programmes, including those in education, which aim to reduce its prevalence.
The final report will be available in October 2018.
Read more about our work on social norms here:
Social norms strategy paper
Fry, D., Hodzi, C., & Nhenga, T. (2016). Addressing Social Norms that Underpin Violence Against Children in Zimbabwe: Findings and Strategic Planning Document. Harare: Ministry of Public Services, Labour and Social Welfare.
Methodology paper
[1] Higher Population Council – Jordan. (2017). A study of child marriage in Jordan. Amman: HPC.