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JANUARY 2025 Translate this email [[link removed]]

Dear friend,

As we welcome 2025, we celebrate the incredible progress we made together in 2024 [[link removed]] – a year of landmark victories for the movement to end child marriage. From Colombia’s historic legislation [[link removed]] to Sierra Leone’s bold new bill [[link removed]] and Malawi’s new national strategy [[link removed]], these milestones show what we can achieve through collective action.

But our work is far from over. 2025 is a pivotal year to accelerate our efforts, deepen our partnerships, and ensure every girl can thrive. With new leadership – Alaa Murabit as Chair [[link removed]] and Ramin Shahzamani as Deputy Chair [[link removed]] – we are ready to build on this momentum and push for even greater impact. This year, we are excited to expand and diversify our global partnership and strengthen collaborations with women-led and youth-led organisations, as well as those addressing child marriage in conflict and crisis settings. We will launch critical research on funding to end child marriage – shedding light on where the money is going and providing recommendations to ensure resources reach changemakers. As we look to the fast-approaching CSW69 [[link removed]], we anticipate a galvanising moment to ensure ending child marriage is integral to the broader girls' and adolescent girls' rights agenda, and we are proud to co-host exciting events, including a powerful film screening and an activists and grassroots panel.

We look forward to sharing critical conversations and pushing for stronger commitments together to shape a world where girls thrive.

📢 NEWS & UPDATES Amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law: What does it mean for girls?

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage has been closely monitoring the debate on proposed amendments to Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law [[link removed]] (Law 188). We have seen significant threats to girls’ rights – including protection from child, early and forced marriage – as well as strong voices across Iraq calling to uphold girls’ rights to safety, health, and education.

According to UNICEF, 28% of women aged 20-24 in Iraq were married before the age of 18. The amendments retain the legal minimum age of marriage of 18, with exceptions permitting marriage from the age of 15. The amendments lack clarity on regulation, which undermines protections, weakens safeguards, and perpetuates risks for girls.

We will continue to monitor the situation while standing in solidarity with all actors, including civil society, working to protect the rights of girls and children in Iraq. We echo statements issued by the United Nations in Iraq [[link removed]], Equality Now [[link removed]] and others calling for any legal reforms in Iraq to align with international human rights standards. Comprehensive provisions that protect girls from child, early and forced marriages – both in law and beyond – are crucial for safeguarding childhoods and enabling girls to reach their full potential.

Joint Statement on Ending Child Marriage in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region

Participants of the 56th plenary session of SADC Parliamentary Forum, December 2024.

In December 2024, Girls Not Brides, SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF), Plan International, UNFPA, UNICEF and Hivos have pledged to strengthen their partnership to accelerate progress on ending child marriage across the SADC region. The partners issued a joint statement, calling for harmonised legal frameworks to establish a minimum marriage age of 18 across all SADC countries.

FIND OUT MORE [[link removed]] Building an Intersectoral Movement to End Child Marriage: Insights from the 15th AWID Forum

Delegates of the Girls Not Brides side event at AWID Forum, December 2024.

Explore key insights from the 15th AWID Forum, which took place in December 2024. Girls Not Brides and partners spotlighted child marriage as a critical gender justice issue. This blog reflects on the power of intersectional collaboration, amplifying girls’ voices, and addressing challenges to strengthen the movement to end child marriage. (Photo: Girls Not Brides)

READ INSIGHTS [[link removed]] SPOTLIGHT Intersectoral Approach to Ending Child Marriage: A Case Study from Nepal

Nepal has made remarkable progress in reducing child marriage, with rates dropping from 40% in 2001 to 21% in 2022, and adolescent fertility rates declining from 110 per 1,000 to 71 per 1,000. This success is rooted in an intersectoral approach that includes increased education levels, comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), legal safe abortion and access to contraception for those who are sexually active.

Nepal is one of the few South Asian countries with a national comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programme, showing how broad approaches to adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) can yield positive results.

This new case study was developed by Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli in collaboration with Girls Not Brides Asia team and key partners.

"Sharing our achievements motivates others to join the movement against child marriage and enhances our collective influence. Each step forward reflects our dedication and reminds us that, united, we can reach even greater heights".

Shristi Kolakshyapati,

Senior Officer for Regional Partnerships and Impact for Asia, Girls Not Brides

“It is important to share news of the progress being made because it communicates that we are part of the wider community working to end child marriage, that progress is being made, and that more progress can be achieved if we push ourselves to do more and better.”

Dr Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli

READ THE FULL CASE STUDY (PDF) [[link removed]] 📝 LEARNING & RESOURCES International Day of Education 2024

On 24th January, the International Day of Education, we launched the interactive 10-Step Guide for Youth-Led Research, designed to amplify youth voices and empower change! This resource provides a structured approach to effectively conduct youth-led research, focusing on supporting youth researchers, navigating power dynamics, and emphasising ethical considerations.

You can also meet the inspiring youth researchers, leading the change, in our latest video on Facebook [[link removed]], Instagram [[link removed]] and LinkedIn [[link removed]].

EXPLORE THE INTERACTIVE REPORT [[link removed]] Resource Roundup 2024

2024 has been a busy year! We’ve been sharing and compiling new evidence, knowledge and practical solutions among practitioners, advocates, policymakers, researchers and funders, so we can all take effective action to address child marriage and transform discriminatory gender norms around the world.

If you missed any of our new materials or shared learning spaces – don’t worry! We’ve brought them all together in this handy resource roundup.

FIND OUT MORE [[link removed]] 📌 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Funding Opportunity: Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Research

An exciting funding opportunity is available from the World Health Organization (WHO) to advance adolescent sexual and reproductive health research. Organisations interested in contributing to this important area can submit concept notes for consideration by 21st February 2025.

FIND OUT MORE [[link removed]] Explore the Latest Child Marriage Data

The updated Child Marriage Atlas provides the latest data on child marriage rates, trends, and progress across countries and regions worldwide. Featuring detailed profiles and an interactive tool, it highlights the urgent need for action while showcasing developments in the global effort to end child marriage. Explore the Atlas to learn more about the challenges and opportunities in each region.

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