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July 2023

Dear friend,

Girls' and women’s lives are compromised by being valued less because of their gender. This is exacerbated by emerging global crises, including climate change, conflict, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These issues have accelerated child, early and forced marriages and unions (CEFMU), a practice that the world has promised to end by 2030 through the Sustainable Development Goals. In fact, data from UNICEF indicates that we are 300 years away from ending child marriage.

Women Deliver [[link removed]] is one of the largest, multi-sectoral convenings to advance gender equality. Women Deliver 2023 [[link removed]], on 17-20 July in Kigali, offers a vital platform for discussions around CEFMU, where grassroot-based advocates, multilateral governments, the private sector, philanthropies, and youth, from all over the world, will come together to address challenges and identify opportunities to advance gender equality. We, at Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, are excited to participate in this convening alongside some of the most passionate and influential people working to end gender inequality. We hope to inspire collective action, at all levels and across movements, to accelerate action to end CEFMU by 2030.

Over the coming weeks, please do keep an eye out on our channels for all our Women Deliver 2023 activity. You can expect to meet our sponsored member delegation, key takeaways from our events, and daily updates from our gender and youth advocates. You can also find a round-up of where to find us [[link removed]] on our website.

For those of you attending in-person and online, you can download our pre-conference guide [[link removed]], and we look forward to seeing you very soon.

Best wishes,

Faith Mwangi-Powell

CEO, Girls Not Brides

[[link removed]] ROUND-UPWHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO? Action to end child marriage at the Human Rights Council

(19 June – 14 July)

At its 53rd session, the Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted its sixth resolution on child, early and forced marriage (CEFM). This year’s resolution focuses specifically on forced marriage. Alongside other civil society organisations, Girls Not Brides, based on inputs from members, advocated for a strong and comprehensive Resolution, based on the right to enter into marriage or choose a spouse, with full, free and informed consent; gender transformative approaches to prevent CEFMU; respect for bodily autonomy; and the repeal of discriminatory religious, customary and family laws that drive CEFMU, including by restricting girls’ and women’s access to divorce. To garner support for the Resolution on Forced Marriage, on June 22nd, Girls Not Brides, in collaboration with Equality Now, hosted an in-person HRC side event [[link removed]], which focused on unlocking the power of education to end child marriage.

The right to education was a central topic at this HRC session. The new UN Special Rapporteur on Education presented her first report [[link removed]] to the HRC, focused on advances and challenges to fulfilling the right to education. In advance of the HRC interactive dialogue on the Special Rapporteur’s report, Girls Not Brides members submitted a written statement [[link removed]], highlighting the interlinkages between child marriage and education. Girls Not Brides members submitted written statements in advance of two other interactive dialogues concerning the joint report [[link removed]] of the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan and the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, which focuses on gender persecution in Afghanistan (read our written statement [[link removed]]), and the report [[link removed]] of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls (VAWG) focusing on VAWG, violence against children and custody (read our written statement [[link removed]]).

Read more about our advocacy at the HRC in our blog [[link removed]]

Girls Not Brides Kenya Steering Committee Co-creation planning meeting

(24 - 25 May)

The meeting served as a platform for the Girls Not Brides Kenya National Partnership to discuss and showcase its key aspects. This included the Girls Not Brides Kenya Steering Committee highlighting the strengths and opportunities of the partnership, as well as establishing its identity. The meeting also focused on outlining the partnership's priorities for the next three years, both at the country and national levels. Additionally, strategies and desired outcomes for the period of 2023-2024 were presented, along with priorities for the national and sub-national levels in the coming years.

Member and allies' reflection on how to address child marriage and early and forced unions in Mexico

(June 2023)

Mexico, along with Brazil, have the highest number of child, early, and forced marriages and unions (CEFMU) in Latin America and the Caribbean, with over 1.4 million married or united minors. However, these issues are not recognised as serious problems and are deeply rooted in gender inequality and violence. Currently, government responses lack comprehensive programmes and policies that address the underlying causes of these practices. Instead, they have focused on creating laws that criminalize early unions [[link removed]], which has increased the vulnerability of girls and adolescents at risk, including those who are already married or in unions.

National Coalition of Civil Society to End Child Marriage in Nigeria Co-Creation Workshop

(19-23 June)

A select group from the Girls Not Brides Nigeria Coalition came together in Abuja to review and renew their advocacy strategy to end child marriage in Nigeria. In this 5-day workshop, the team reflected on past successes, evaluated the evidence-base and need for gender transformative interventions, and reviewed their vision and core objectives, to develop a new 5-year advocacy strategy, supported by a 3-year project and communications plan. The team were delighted to be joined by the Director of Child Development from the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs for Nigeria, and by representatives from UNICEF who discussed recent data and trends in child marriage in Nigeria.

Movement Building and Advocacy Leadership Programme

(26-30 June)

The pioneer Girls Not Brides Movement Building and Advocacy Leadership Programme launched this month with our first ever cohort of members from Africa and Asia. We evidenced 24 members from 10 countries in Asia and Africa driven by a collective passion to advance their individual leadership journeys in the application of the collective movements. The programme touch based on managing power dynamics in partnership, understanding feminism in collective movement building as well as equipped advocacy tactics in the coordination of National/State Partnerships and Coalition. We hope this will be the first of many so that we can continue to grow our strong movement of changemakers, acting together to end CEFMU.

Africa Action Group to End Child Marriage Workshop: Advancing the evidence base on strategies to end child marriage and support married girls

(4-6 July)

The Africa Action Group to End Child Marriage is a pan-African platform that brings together advocates, practitioners, and partners for a cohesive, strategic and collective approach to end child marriage in the continent. In this workshop, we review the state of the evidence base for child marriage, identified an updated set of research priorities, and identified how best to support dissemination and uptake of research findings.

In need of inspiration?'Fruto' and the care work done by women, girls and adolescents in Mexico.

Fruto" (Spanish for fruit) is a moving book by Daniela Rea Gómez that immerses us in a profound exploration of motherhood, care and resistance in the midst of a society that romanticises "maternal sacrifice". Through a series of stories, the Mexican author shares with us the voices of women and girls who carry out caregiving tasks and whose lives are marked by violence, inequality and lack of autonomy.

Read the full blog post [[link removed]]

Learning round-upHow civil society organisations can use gender-transformative collective action to address child marriage and advance girls' rights: A 7-step guide.

A practical guide [[link removed]] for civil society collectives to facilitate their gender-transformative journey, including 21 practical tools and templates, and clearly-displayed key terms, examples, guidance and resources. Available in English.

Preventing conflict-related sexual violence is possible and requires urgent action.

This brief [[link removed]] explores the drivers and consequences of conflict-related sexual violence and child marriage, presents evidence from around the world on what works to address them, and offers recommendations for advocacy, policy, programming, research, and UN Agencies and cluster leads. Available in English and French.

CRANK Research Spotlight: Addressing child marriage and supporting married girls in conflict- and crisis-affected settings.

This Research Spotlight [[link removed]] covers the latest research and evidence related to child marriage programming in conflict- and crisis-affected settings, including key takeaways from featured studies, evidence gaps and ideas for further research and programme design and evaluations. Available in English and French.

Budget advocacy to end child marriage and promote girls' education in West and Central Africa: Learnings from eight pilot projects.

Report [[link removed]] sharing learnings from eight pilot projects implemented with child marriage coalitions across West and Central Africa. It addresses knowledge gaps and contributes to the evidence base on budget advocacy to end child marriage and promote girls' education. Available in English and French.

EVENTSCRANK research meeting: Child marriage in conflict- and crisis-affected settings – Learning from the latest evidence.

In this second quarterly research meeting of 2023, we discussed recent evidence and learnings on how to address the unique aspects of implementing and evaluating interventions with refugees in conflict- and crisis-affected settings – check out the meeting page [[link removed]] for the session recordings, presentations, key takeaways and related resources.

Gender-transformative promising practice in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This session was a space to learn more about the links between control of adolescent girls' sexuality and child marriage and unions, and gender-transformative approaches to addressing these. It included an example of promising practice from "Núcleo de Apoyo a la Mujer" (NAM) in the Dominican Republic – check out the session page [[link removed]] for key takeaways, recordings and presentations in English, French and Spanish.

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