Cablegate: Romania: Child Marriage Survey

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS BUCHAREST 000659

SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/IWI L KHADIAGALA; EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ELAB PHUM PGOV SCUL SOCI KWMN RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIA: CHILD MARRIAGE SURVEY

REF: STATE 036341

Post's response regarding child marriage in Romania follows
the sequence of questions posed in Reftel:

A) The legal age of marriage in Romania is 18 years of age.
Girls may marry at age 16 with parental consent. A girl may
also receive a waiver to marry as young as 15, with parental
consent and the permission of the "Autoritatea Tutelara,"
the local authority that oversees the welfare of minors,
disabled persons and others requiring social protection.

B) There is no statistical analysis available on underage
marriage in Romania. Most reported instances of child
marriage occur within the Roma community, where early
marriage is the tradition. Human rights groups and the
media report that such marriages occur frequently and
without notice or intervention by authorities.

C) Currently there are no U.S. nor locally funded
initiatives in Romania to reduce or address child marriage.
Florin Moisa, Director of the Roma Resource Center in Cluj,
a member of the "Soros Open Network," noted that one of the
best ways to combat child marriage in the Roma community is
to promote education as an alternative. Moisa stated that
this could be achieved with increased funding and support
for the "education mediator" program sponsored in part by
the Romanian Ministry of Education. The education mediators
are Roma selected from within the Roma community who are
trained to liaise with school administrators and Roma
parents. The goal of the education mediators is to help
Roma children stay in school, finish secondary education,
and learn trade skills before marrying.

Delare

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