As a rule, before, during and after the Lunar New Year every year, the situation of children "marrying" and "following their husbands" in Ky Son district is complicated. There are many different reasons leading to the above situation, including the transformation of the "wife-catching" custom among the Mong ethnic group, the negative impact of the process of receiving information on the internet, and the simple legal awareness of the people themselves.

According to research, the problem of child marriage has been going on for a long time in the border district and has left many serious consequences for the people involved, their families and society. The ones who suffer the most are girls, who have to drop out of school, become mothers when their psychology and physiology are not yet complete, and are not ready for a life of taking care of their families. Child marriage also reduces the quality of the population, affects human resources, and hinders economic and social development, national defense, security and sustainable development of the locality.

Ky Son district (Nghe An) organized a contest to propagate the prevention of child marriage in schools.

Determined to repel child marriage, at the end of 2024, the Party Executive Committee of Ky Son district issued a Resolution "On strengthening the Party's leadership over Party committees and authorities at all levels in the work of preventing and reducing child marriage and consanguineous marriage in Ky Son district in the period of 2024-2030".

To achieve the goal, Ky Son District Party Committee has taken measures to enhance the role and responsibility of Party organizations, unions and the "fighting" spirit of cadres and Party members against child marriage and consanguineous marriage. On that basis, Ky Son District has directed communes and units to regularly innovate the content and methods of propaganda on preventing, combating and reducing child marriage and consanguineous marriage. Focus on selecting focused content, compiling concise, easy-to-understand, easy-to-remember documents, close to the practical life, activities, awareness, customs and cultural traditions of ethnic minorities. In particular, focusing on groups of women, youth and areas at high risk of child marriage and consanguineous marriage.

A performance on preventing child marriage by teachers and students of a local school.

Local authorities, Border Guards, and Police promote the combined strength of the grassroots propaganda team, especially valuing the role of Party cell secretaries, village chiefs, clan chiefs, and prestigious people in propaganda and mobilization work, bringing the Party and State's policies and guidelines to the people. At the same time, bring the content of propaganda on the Law on Marriage and Family, the harms of early marriage, and incestuous marriage into schools, gradually changing the thinking and awareness of the younger generation, children of ethnic minorities in the district.

Clearly defining roles, responsibilities, time before, during and after the Lunar New Year 2025, the Border Guard stations of Nghe An Border Guard on the border of Ky Son district have coordinated with the authorities and the police of the communes to propagate, mobilize and prevent cases with signs of early marriage. In particular, creating consensus, promoting the role of the village elders, village chiefs, and prestigious people of the clans in the area to propagate to the people; mobilizing people not to participate in weddings of "couples" who are not of legal age; promptly informing the Border Guard, the police, and local authorities to prevent cases of distortion of the custom of "wife kidnapping" and early marriage.

The working group includes forces from the Nam Can International Border Gate Border Guard Station, the Commune People's Committee and the Nam Can Commune Police to propagate, mobilize and prevent the transformation of the "wife-catching" custom from occurring in the area.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ky Son district, said: "Thanks to the drastic participation of the entire political system, in early 2025, the situation of child marriage in the area has decreased significantly. Some areas identified as "hot spots" such as Nam Can commune have not had any cases of child marriage. In the coming time, we will direct agencies and units to persistently implement appropriate and effective propaganda measures to prevent and combat child marriage; along with that, there will be measures to strictly handle violations to deter them."

Article and photos: HIEU AN