The Data Behind the Action: Exploring the SADC Dashboard that tracks progress on ending child marriage in Southern Africa

Photo Credit: Cozar Photography

Every girl deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and shape her own future. Across Southern Africa, governments, parliamentarians, civil society, and local communities are working together to strengthen laws, policies, and actions to end child marriage.

A decade after the adoption of the SADC Model Law on eradicating child marriage and protecting children already in marriage, the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum  (SADC PF) and the Technical Working Group on the Implementation of the SADC Model Law on Child Marriage launch a Dashboard on core indicators tracking progress on ending child marriage and protecting girls who are already married. The Dashboard shows where action is happening, highlights what works, and points out where more effort is needed. By bringing key information together in one place, it helps advocates, policymakers, and communities monitor progress and hold everyone accountable.

On 27 November, as we mark the very first International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage, the dashboard will be one of the innovative accountability tools that will be on hand to help various players in the policy and advocacy field turn promises into real, ongoing action.

What is the dashboard and why was it created?

The SADC Dashboard is a regional platform for tracking how the Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children Already in Marriage is being implemented. It also serves as a tool for accountability, knowledge sharing, and decision-making, all in one place.

The Dashboard was created to solve problems like fragmented data, unclear indicator definitions, and results that are hard to compare across countries. In the past, key information often did not reach those who needed it, making it difficult for parliamentarians, civil society, and young people to see where progress was happening or where more work was needed.

The SADC PF worked with members of the Technical Working Group, including Equality Now, Plan International, Hivos, Girls Not Brides, UNFPA, UNICEF, and CARE International Zambia to create a regional Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MERL) Framework. The Dashboard was then developed to put the MERL Framework into practice.

How does the Dashboard work?

The MERL Framework sets out key outcomes, indicators, data sources, responsibilities, and minimum standards for monitoring the Model Law. The Dashboard turns this framework into an easy-to-use digital platform.

Users can view a regional summary of progress, use filters to explore different pages and views, check information for each Member State, compare countries, and read indicator definitions and data sources.

What information does it provide?

The Dashboard brings together key indicators on child marriage and the protection of married girls across SADC Member States. It also includes indicator definitions and data sources on the same platform. This transparency lets users see what is being measured, where the numbers come from, and where data is missing.

What are the four pillars of the Model Law?

The Dashboard organises its indicators around four parts of the Model Law: prevention, protection, legal and policy frameworks, and monitoring and accountability. These cover both stopping new cases of child marriage and supporting girls who are already married.

Who can use the Dashboard?

The Dashboard is designed for a wide range of users, including parliamentarians, policymakers, program managers, researchers, civil society organisations, traditional and community leaders, and young people.

The goal is to make information about child marriage clear and useful for everyone, not just technical experts.

How can parliamentarians use it?

Parliaments are critical actors in law reform, budgeting, and oversight. The Dashboard helps MPs see how their country measures up to regional standards and to other countries. They can use it to:

• Prepare for oversight questions and committee work
• Inform legislation and policy formulation
• Make the case for budget allocations where gaps are visible
• Hold dialogue with ministries and national statistics offices on data and delivery

What can civil society and young people do with it?

Civil society organisations can use the Dashboard’s evidence to support their advocacy, raise funds, and report on national and regional commitments. They can also spot data gaps and track whether promises are being kept.

The Dashboard focuses on young people, especially young women, by making information about decisions that affect them easier to find and understand. Youth organisations will help test the platform and decide how to share and use the evidence. Traditional leaders can also use the evidence to support community-level prevention, protection, and changing social norms.

How can the Dashboard support accountability and encourage governments to act?

The Dashboard improves transparency by bringing data, definitions, and sources together in one place. This shared evidence base is available to parliaments, civil society, partners, and the public.

It also supports regular review, verification, and discussion between Member States and their partners. The Dashboard helps countries learn from each other by showing progress and challenges in a regional context, and it encourages action on both regional and national commitments.

How can it help identify gaps and areas requiring greater attention?

The Dashboard helps users find data gaps, where information is missing or unavailable. These gaps are clearly marked. It also highlights implementation bottlenecks, where laws or policies exist but results are lacking, and points out areas that need urgent political, program, or financial attention.

Who was involved in developing it?

SADC PF developed the Dashboard in partnership with the technical working group. Validation process was conducted with various researchers, member state representatives, monitoring and evaluation specialists, civil society organisations, development partners, and other stakeholders.

SADC PF led the development with its partners, while a Technical Working Group guides data validation and makes sure the Dashboard is ready to launch.

What happens after the launch?

Partners and SADC PF will focus on:

• Dissemination: sharing the Dashboard link, recordings, statements and key messages
• Data updates: agreeing on a data-refresh calendar and a governance arrangement to protect reliability and sustainability
• Training and uptake: continued user support and capacity strengthening so people can use the platform in policy, programming, advocacy and oversight
• Follow-up: a launch report and an action matrix with owners and deadlines, plus tracking of how the Dashboard is being used

Long-term success will rely on clear institutional ownership, agreed data responsibilities, regular reviews, and making the Dashboard part of routine parliamentary, policy, and program work.