UNICEF-AFS HC-0249-0250 Success Story of Sumi Aktar. Sumi Aktar (16), refused to marry and asked help from the Adolescent club members tells her story. At the age of 16, Sumi’s parents arranged a marriage with a man who is living and working in overseas. Her family is very poor and couldn’t afford to support her studies unless she got married. However, Sumi was not interested to get married at the age of 16. The members of the adolescent club went to visit Sumi’s family and explained about the consequences of early marriage. After a number of visits and conversations, the family understood and accepted early marriage is not good for their daughter. They consented to stop the planned marriage. UNICEF supported Bangladeshi adolescents from the host-community through 90 Adolescent Clubs (AC) in 2018. Through these facilities, UNICEF reached 4,000 adolescents with a range of protection services and learning opportunities. Adolescent-Friendly Spaces offer life skills based education, case management and recreational activities. Participating adolescents follow a four-month-long course, attending sessions for four hours a week on topics such as health and nutrition; prevention of HIV/AIDS; gender and GBV; child marriage; child labour; trafficking; peace building; leadership; employability skills; values and ethics; and equality and equity. Balukhali, Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar. Photo: b.a.sujaN / UNICEF / Map

UNICEF-AFS HC-0249-0250 Success Story of Sumi Aktar. Sumi Aktar (16), refused to marry and asked help from the Adolescent club members tells her story. At the age of 16, Sumi’s parents arranged a marriage with a man who is living and working in overseas. Her family is very poor and couldn’t afford to support her studies unless she got married. However, Sumi was not interested to get married at the age of 16. The members of the adolescent club went to visit Sumi’s family and explained about the consequences of early marriage. After a number of visits and conversations, the family understood and accepted early marriage is not good for their daughter. They consented to stop the planned marriage. UNICEF supported Bangladeshi adolescents from the host-community through 90 Adolescent Clubs (AC) in 2018. Through these facilities, UNICEF reached 4,000 adolescents with a range of protection services and learning opportunities. Adolescent-Friendly Spaces offer life skills based education, case management and recreational activities. Participating adolescents follow a four-month-long course, attending sessions for four hours a week on topics such as health and nutrition; prevention of HIV/AIDS; gender and GBV; child marriage; child labour; trafficking; peace building; leadership; employability skills; values and ethics; and equality and equity. Balukhali, Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar. Photo: b.a.sujaN / UNICEF / Map