The Limits of Child Agency?

Abstract

This article explores how communities and development practitioners conceptualise children’s agency. It highlights contradictions within non-government organisations (ngo) and United Nations (UN) narratives on child marriage: children are said to exercise agency when they defy forced marriage, yet they lack knowledge and choice if they themselves decide to marry. This article is based on interviews and focus group discussions with communities in Somalia and Cameroon, and interviews with development practitioners in both countries. The findings highlight four themes: child-led marriages are a newer practice; child-led marriages are often temporary; practitioners believe children are too young to exercise agency; and practitioners question whether children can make decisions. These findings have implications for child marriage interventions, highlighting the need for “agency” to be conceptualised less narrowly. For ngo s, UN agencies and policy-makers, requires reflecting on what it means to accept community choices, irrespective of whether the outcome is positive or negative.