Al-Bilad program discussed Saturday the contribution of the initiative of the Prime Minister of the Unity Government, Abdel Hamid Al-Dabaiba, to the phenomenon of “marriage of underage girls” within the Marriage Support Fund, based on the fact that “218News” had obtained the documents of the first report on the marriage management grant.
Al-Bilad program on 218News exclusively published the report issued by the government, on the data and details of the marriage support initiative system announced on August 12, allocating one billion Libyan dinars for the Marriage Support Fund.
The report included (23) papers prepared by the Ministry of Youth in order to obtain financial assistance, estimated at about 40,000 dinars. The report notes serious violations that can be described as a “social crime.”
The report’s data monitored the marriage of girls under the age of 18, which is considered a “crime” according to Libyan law, which falls under the category of underage marriage, despite the fraud known as “judicial permission” that contributed to the spread of the phenomenon of underage marriage in Libya, in a flagrant and clear violation of all international conventions on childhood.
The documents obtained by “218News” showed the marriage of 516 minors, born in 2004, the marriage of 279 minors, born in 2005, in addition to confirming the marriage of 118 minors, born in 2006, the marriage of 25 girls, born in 2007, and finally the marriage of two girls born in 2008, bringing the total number of child marriages, most of whom are minors, registered in the marriage grant system to 940 marriages.
The report’s information indicates the responsibility of the Prime Minister, the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, the Ministry of Youth, the Director of the Marriage Grant Fund, the Head of the Audit Bureau, the Minister of Finance, and the Head of the Civil Status Authority, for allowing the marriage of underage girls as part of the government’s initiative, and for violating the Civil Status Authority’s laws regarding issuing a family registration number to wives who did not reach the age of marriage specified in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Authority.
It also revealed the separation of the ages of the beneficiaries of the marriage management grant, under the title “The age of the husband compared to the age of the wife”; there is a significant difference in age between spouses, as there is an age difference of 38 years for 12 cases registered in the fund, and one case recorded an age difference of 24 years, in addition to 103 marriages that recorded an age difference of 19 years.
The shocking details of the report on the marriage of minors, which passed through the government’s agencies and the Marriage Support Fund, raise a question about the problems arising from grant violations in the long term within Libyan society, and about the position of the Supreme Judicial Council on documented violations of the rights of minors in Libya.
