#16Days – Halt Child Marriage

Updated 2022

Many members of the Movement for Community-led Development are also members of Girls Not Brides (GNB), a global partnership of more than 1500 civil society committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfill their potential. Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age 18. Child marriage violates girls’ rights to health, education and opportunity. It exposes girls to violence throughout their lives, and traps them in a cycle of poverty.

Emergencies such as COVID-19 and the recent climate-change-triggered disasters always lead to a spike in child marriage, as families struggle to make ends meet with livelihoods have disrupted.

There are solutions, and community leaders are at the forefront of detecting, preventing and — where necessary — prosecuting those who attempt illegal child marriages.

Girls Not Brides has a learning series on what works to halt child marriage. You can sign up for it here!