Dear friend,

In West and Central Africa, 39% of girls are married before the age of 18, and the region is home to seven of the ten countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage – a reality that calls for urgent and united action.

This month, Girls Not Brides and African Network Campaign for Education for All (ANCEFA) co-hosted the Education Out Loud Regional Convening in Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire, bringing together civil society coalitions working on education and ending child marriage from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo, continental institutions and global partners.

Reflecting on national progress, identifying shared challenges and co-creating regional priorities, together they reaffirmed a powerful truth: education is one of the most effective tools we have to prevent child marriage. Girls who remain in school are not only less likely to marry early, but are more likely to become economically independent, participate in civic life, and lead change in their communities.

The convening culminated in the adoption of the Grand-Bassam Joint Declaration, marking the launch of a new chapter in cross-sectoral, cross-country collaboration. It lays the foundation for the next phase of the regional influencing strategy, centring girls’ rights, youth leadership, and gender equality in education.

Supported by the Education Out Loud initiative, this moment reaffirmed that when movements come together across countries, sectors, and generations, lasting change is not only possible, but inevitable.

📢 NEWS & UPDATES

📢 Ending Child Marriage in Asia by 2030: Three Urgent Actions

Partnering with youth institutions in Guatemala to advance the CEFMU agenda

We joined the National Youth Council of Guatemala (CONJUVE) at the first “Dialogues of the Future” — a new platform convening government representatives, organised youth, civil society, and international actors around the main challenges affecting young people in Guatemala. We shared key data on child, early and forced marriages and unions (CEFMU), highlighting the disproportionate impact on indigenous and rural girls and the urgency of coordinated institutional responses, positioning CEFMU as a priority and exploring pathways for future collaboration.

Submissions to the UN on a new treaty to strengthen the right to free education 

We responded to the United Nations’ invitation for submissions on a proposed optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We are also delighted to highlight the great work of the Girls Not Brides Uganda National Partnership (GNBU) and the Tanzania Ending Child Marriage Network (TECMN), both of whom also responded to the call for inputs.

Did your organisation send a submission to inform the process for developing an optional protocol? If so, we’d love to hear about it! To share your inputs with us, please get in touch with Sophia Lane at [email protected].  

📝 LEARNING & RESOURCES

Join us for our Learning Series call on ending child marriage! 

Child marriage in conflict- and crisis-affected settings: sharing evidence and promising practice

Risk factors for child marriage increase significantly in conflict- and crisis-affected settings, where over 1 in 3 girls in fragile states are married before the age of 18. The stress and uncertainty of these environments exacerbate core drivers of child marriage and gender-based violence, yet child marriage prevention is rarely adequately prioritised within humanitarian or crisis response systems. Join us to explore the latest research on child marriage in conflict and crisis settings and hear promising practices from Girls Not Brides members.

New UNFPA report deepens understanding of CEFMU in Mexico

UNFPA Mexico released a new report analysing the root causes and current responses to child, early and forced marriages and unions (CEFMU). The publication highlights key structural drivers — including gender inequality and limited access to services — and offers recommendations to strengthen prevention and coordination efforts, especially for Indigenous and rural communities.

OPPORTUNITIES

Voices for Impact: Stories from the Global South

Are you an emerging storyteller or journalist from the Global South? The CNN Academy Program supports emerging storytellers from the Global South by providing them with the necessary tools and training to effectively tell stories that can create meaningful change.

Call for members 2025 - Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) on Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health, and Nutrition (MNCAHN)

The Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) on Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health, and Nutrition (MNCAHN) with 30 experts was established by Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. As part of the rotating membership policy, WHO is soliciting proposals globally for nomination of new experts to serve on STAGE, starting from January 2026. The deadline for applications is 22 June 2025.

IN CASE YOU MISSED

AAGECM workshop report: Strengthening Research and Collaboration to End Child Marriage in Africa

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