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Voices
MARCH 2024
In this issue:
- Impact Report: Highlights from our work in 2023
- CSW68: Advancing the ending child marriage agenda
- #AfricaDisruptCSW68: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women and Girls in Africa
- LAC Regional Convening: Building our alliance in Latin America and the Caribbean
- CRANK Symposium: The mental health consequences of child marriage
- CEFMU and the law: Resources from our latest learning session
🌍 IMPACT REPORT 2023
Dear friend,
This month, we are delighted to share with you our 2023 Impact Report which demonstrates the progress Girls Not Brides made last year towards ending child marriage and making the world a safer and more equitable place for girls and women.
Throughout 2023, we worked to catalyse collective action at a national and state level through supporting our dynamic membership of over 1400 members. We also strengthened collective efforts to end child marriage at a regional level by collaborating with a diverse range of actors to create powerful strategies for change.
In our global work, we are developing the global ecosystem to support and catalyse the end of child marriage by bringing focus to this issue and using our convening power to facilitate conversations between decision-makers and activists. We are also continuing to build a learning and evidence base to catalyse change by sourcing, collating and sharing evidence on what works to end child marriage.
Read the full report, available in interactive web format or as a PDF, here on our website:
📢 ADVOCACY
CSW68: Advancing the ending child marriage agenda
This week, during the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, Girls Not Brides will be advocating to advance the ending child marriage agenda based on the recommendations we submitted last year. We are also hosting several events so if you are already attending CSW, here's where to find us:
Parallel Event: Addressing Poverty and Access to Education to End Child Marriage
12 March | 4.30-6pm EDT | Church Centre for the United Nations (CCUN), 11th Floor.
Hosted by Girls Not Brides, Pan-African Alliance to End Child Marriage, Hunger Project, Human Rights Watch
No registration needed. Entry on a first come first served basis.
Side Event: Ending Child Marriage: A Key Path Towards Gender Equality
13 March | 2-3.30pm EDT
Hosted by Girls Not Brides; Government of Canada; Government of Malawi; Government of Sweden; Government of the United Kingdom; Plan International
Invite only. Please email [email protected] for details.
To find out more about CSW68, including details of events held by Girls Not Brides members and partners, visit our website:
#AfricaDisruptCSW68: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women and Girls in Africa
Over the years, African women have expressed concern with the lack of inclusion of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and other global spaces as they continue to face barriers such as economic and immigration constraints as well as capacity restrictions. These challenges limit their representation, participation and voice in crucial spaces where they need to be heard.
Led by FEMNET, Africa Disrupt CSW is part of the efforts of African women to challenge CSW and emerged to respond to the continued shrinking space for feminist and civil society engagement at the annual CSW session in New York. Between the 20th and 22nd of February, FEMNET convened civil society for the third Africa Disrupt CSW68 in Yaoundé, Cameroon under the theme: ‘Reclaiming the Dignity of Women and Girls in Africa’.
💡 FEATURED ARTICLE
LAC REGIONAL CONVENING: Building our alliance in Latin America and the Caribbean
Last year, Girls Not Brides in Latin America and the Caribbean held its first Regional Membership Convening together with 54 organisations and a committee of 19 young people from 17 countries in the region. The main objective: to create a collective, multi-year plan to address child, early and forced marriages and unions in the region.
During this three-day convening, we sought to build trust between organisations and create a space to get to know each other and the work we do; to define a common vision for the region; to propose priorities based on an analysis of contexts; and finally to define a work plan.
📖 LEARNING AND EVIDENCE
CRANK SYMPOSIUM: What's known and what's next – Charting future action on the mental health consequences of child marriage
This half-day symposium organised by the Child Marriage Research to Action Network (the CRANK) and the University College London Global Network on Mental Health and Child Marriage will bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers and donors to explore the existing evidence on the mental health consequences of child marriage, and on what works to support girls who are – or have been – married.
🕒 Wednesday, 20 March 2024 | 7-11am Mexico City / 1-5pm London / 4-8pm Nairobi / 5:30-9.30pm New Delhi
🌐 Hybrid event hosted online on Zoom and at the University College London Institute for Global Health, 30 Guildford Street, London, WC1N 1EH
There will be simultaneous interpretation in English, French and Spanish for online participants
CEFMU AND THE LAW: Resources from our learning session
Our latest learning series discussed the impact of age of marriage and sexual consent laws on child marriage and girls’ rights. Download resources from the session to access key findings from the literature, hear insights from Girls Not Brides members and explore what the evidence means for our collective work:
We have also created a brief and a longer evidence review on child marriage laws, drawing on insights from members to highlight key considerations for our work and ensure the best outcomes for girls, in all their diversity. Download them here:
