Despite all the legislative efforts regarding child protection and campaigns to prevent and combat early marriage and maternity, Mozambique was ranked 9th globally in terms of the prevalence of early marriage, with 48% of girls aged 20-24 marrying before the age of 18 years. The aim of this study was to develop a strategic alignment framework for the prevention and combat of early marriage and maternity in Zambézia Province, Mozambique. This study used a two-stage equal-status concurrent sequential mixed-method design. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey, administered to 383 early married, maternity and pregnant girls; life story interviews with early married, maternity and pregnant girls (25) aged 10-19 years; semi-structured interviews with professionals from the education and health sectors, local authorities, families of the early married, maternity and pregnant girls (37), and group discussions with members of a child committee (16). The results indicated that the majority of early married, maternity and pregnant girls only completed primary education (55.9%), followed by secondary education (39.9%), and higher education (2.9%). About 65% of adolescent girls became pregnant at the age of 15-17. Among adolescent girls, 18.8% had their first baby before the age of 15 years and 99.2% had their first baby before they were 18 years old. Among the early maternity girls (362), 24.3% responded “yes” to the questions about health complications during their first baby’s birth and 75.7% of the respondents said “no”. Socio-cultural meanings, such as socialisation into roles, legitimising having children, the value and benefits of the bridewealth, the role of initiation, the social meaning of the first menstruation, geographical and transport issues were the main drivers for school dropout, forcing adolescent girls to marry. Engaging in sexual practices was found to provide the girls a sense of meaning and purpose, or as a result of poverty. Physical aspects, interpersonal relations, education, work, and emotional distress were some of the negative consequences of early marriage and maternity. There were some relevant interventions and efforts to prevent and combat early marriage and maternity in Maganja da Costa and Morrumbala districts in Zambézia Province, Mozambique. However, the alignment of the activities implemented by different NGOs and CBOs to MNSPCM (2016-2019) was still a challenge. Only World Vision was implementing programmes aligned to the National Strategy. Based on the results, I developed a strategic alignment framework for the prevention and combat of early marriage and maternity in Zambézia Province, Mozambique. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

The objective of this study is to put forward informed C4D recommendations to help organizations like UNICEF combat the situation for Syrian refugee children and youths in Lebanon, who through displacement and resettling into the complex Lebanese socio-political landscape may be at risk of becoming a lost generation. This paper focuses on the prevention and elimination of actions such as bullying, sexual harassment, gender-based violence, and early marriage.Conceptual framework: the communication theoretical framework considers Bourdieu’s habitus model as well as the uses and gratification model. Concepts conducive to social cohesion include citizenship, communitas and cosmopolitanism.Methodology: data were gathered through a variety of primary and secondary sources. The former includes semi-structured interviews with subject matter experts and analysis of UNICEF’s external communication practices. The latter comprises the collection, assessment, comparison and summarizing of various reports about Lebanese media.Findings: Lebanon has a pluralistic media landscape, though it appears fragmented, reflecting its socio-political sectarian situation. The media in Lebanon is criticized for lack of public service. The arts scene seems to fill a void in terms of examining the collective memory in respect of not only the civil war (1975-1990) but also of social issues arising as a result of globalization and modernity. Syrians in Lebanon consume Lebanese media as much as media from their own country. Interpersonal communication channels appear to be the preferred mode of communication among both the host and the refugee communities, although among the youth social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook are commonplace. Among the traditional media channels, television appears to be popular. The representation of Syrian refugees in Lebanese media is varied, with about one fourth of the published material portraying Syrians as a security issue.Results: a series of C4D recommendations that use sports and the arts as an overarching theme.