Early Child Marriage Prevention Initiative

Location: Murshidabad

Praajak works with adolescents, young women, and young men to create a future where every individual can make informed choices about their lives, relationships, and aspirations free from the constraints of discrimination and patriarchal norms. Through youth collectives, community engagement, gender awareness, leadership development, and educational support, the initiative empowers young people to exercise their rights, build confidence, and challenge practices that lead to early and child marriage. By fostering safe spaces for dialogue and collective action, the programme promotes choice, consent, agency, and equal opportunities for all.

Early and child marriage continues to limit the choices, opportunities, and aspirations of thousands of young people. Praajak’s Early Child Marriage Prevention Initiative seeks to address the root causes of this challenge by empowering adolescents, engaging communities, and promoting gender-transformative social change.

The programme creates safe spaces where young women and men can openly discuss issues of gender, sexuality, education, relationships, and life choices. Through youth collectives, leadership development, community dialogues, and educational support, adolescents gain the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions about their futures.

Our approach goes beyond preventing child marriage. We work towards building a society where every young person can exercise choice, consent, dignity, and agency in their personal and social lives. By strengthening community support systems and challenging harmful social norms, the initiative contributes to creating an environment where young people can pursue education, realise their aspirations, and build healthy, equitable relationships.

At its core, this programme is about ensuring that every young person has the freedom and opportunity to shape their own future.

Our Approach

  • Empowering adolescent girls and boys through collective action.
  • Promoting informed choice, consent, and gender equality.
  • Strengthening access to education and learning opportunities.
  • Engaging parents, community leaders, and local institutions.
  • Challenging harmful social norms that perpetuate child marriage.

Impact We Aim for

A society where young people are free to make informed decisions about their lives, continue their education, pursue their aspirations, and enter relationships and marriage based on choice, dignity, and mutual consent.

Location: Murshidabad

Moments of Impact

Celebrating everyday stories of courage, collaboration, and positive change