Amal Clooney joins Michelle Obama and Melinda Gates in Malawi to pledge to end child marriage within a generation – as she praises their ‘lovely and organic’ friendship

Amal Clooney has joined Michelle Obama and Melinda Gates in Malawi to reaffirm their commitment to ending child marriage.

The 45-year-old lawyer is co-founder of the Clooney Foundation For Justice (CFJ) with her Hollywood actor husband, George.

Amal, Michelle and Melinda – who are among the most influential women in the world – have pledged to end child marriage within a generation after joining forces last year.

However, the UN has warned that child marriage will not be eradicated in the next 300 years.

Speaking about their work, Amal said BBC news: ‘It was a very beautiful and very organic collaboration and friendship between the three of us.’

Speaking about their commitment to ending child marriage, the former First Lady of the United States added: “It’s a problem that can be solved tomorrow. It could happen within a generation.”

The CFJ’s latest initiative, Waging Justice For Women, funds the Women Lawyers Association of Malawi.

Their work to date has included providing free legal advice and emergency clinics in some of Malawi’s most remote areas, far from roads and electricity.

Amal attended the first clinic in the Mchinji region, one of twelve child marriage hotspots in the country.

It was attended by an audience of 1,000 people, including 800 women, and included one-on-one consultations.

Amal said: “It is a privilege to work with so many inspiring Malawian women in the fight to make child marriage history.

‘Child marriage persists because there is insufficient legal protection for millions of girls across Africa.

‘And even in countries like Malawi where child marriage is banned, girls do not have access to justice.

“CFJ now supports legal aid clinics in four countries – Malawi, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia – and will continue to expand this model to increase access to justice for women and girls across the continent.”

Amal also met with Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera, who following their meeting renewed the government’s commitment to end child marriage in the country by 2030 and asked the Minister of Finance to allocate sufficient resources for this task.

According to UNICEF, approximately 640 million girls and women were married as children today.

The NGO Girls Not Brides says that 42 percent of girls in Malawi are married by the age of 18.

In Mchinji, 33 percent of girls reportedly become pregnant before the age of 18.

WLA President Chisomo Nyemba said: “The Clooney Foundation for Justice is helping us set up mobile legal clinics across the country in remote areas. That’s where we have customers who need our services the most.

“The prevalence of child marriage in the rural areas is very high (due to) a host of factors, starting from the socio-economic status of most people in the villages, the lack of awareness in the villages and the people in the village. know no alternatives.

“Thanks to the support of the Clooney Foundation, we can now reach these areas for the first time and focus on child marriage.”

Later, Amal met victims of sexual violence in Cape Town.

She and her husband, George, co-founded the CFJ in 2016.

It now operates in more than 40 countries and its work includes investigating war crimes in Ukraine and monitoring show trials.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Amal and George donated $1 million to relief efforts.