Workshop to minimize underage marriages

A workshop for village level registrars in the Moneragala district was held recently to minimize the number of underage marriages in the district.

The workshop was jointly organised by the Moneragala District Child Protection Agency and the Land and District Secretariat. The participants were made aware of how to confirm the identity when registering marriages and how to be vigilant about the age of the parties when registering a marriage.

Attention was given to discussing the social and biological issues that arise due to underage marriages and the importance of preventing its occurrence. A large number of Marriage, Birth, Death registrars and additional district registrars in the Moneragala district participated at the workshop.

The number of mothers under the age of 18 in the Moneragala District has been on the rise recently. It is hoped that initiatives such as these will help change this trend. Plan Sri Lanka was the main sponsor of the workshop.