September 2023

image of gender leadership programme participants

CHANGEMAKERS: STORIES OF GENDER JUSTICE CHAMPIONS WORKING IN INDIA TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

The Gender Leadership Programme (GLP) to end child marriage supported 27 Girls Not Brides members from across India to become Gender Justice Champions and integrate gender-transformative approaches into their existing work to end child marriage. We spoke to some of the cohort about how they have implemented their learnings into their work.

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LESS TALK, MORE ACTION! MOBILISING YOUNG PEOPLE IN ADVOCATING FOR GENDER EQUALITY

Young people have the capacity, capability, and power to make change happen and end child, early, and forced marriages and unions (CEFMU) within their next generation. Read our guest blog post featuring youth and gender activists from across the Partnership on their thoughts of how we can better support youth participation in international spaces and decision-making

BUILDING THE REGIONAL MOVEMENT TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

We were thrilled to host our inaugural LAC Regional Convening in Bogotá, Colombia! Over 50 member organizations from the region came together to forge a collective agenda to address child, early and forced marriage and unions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our gathering was marked by a powerful commitment to diversity, the resounding voices of youth, a feminist perspective, and collective action, all serving as the cornerstones of our vision. Together, we're working towards a future where every girl and adolescent can have autonomy, exercise their rights and live to their full potential.

BUILDING THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

UNGA78 and the SDG Summit

The 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 78) opens this month, with the theme of rebuilding global solidarity and accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. It is not possible to meet the SDGs without ending child marriage, so this event is a key moment for the global movement to advocate for more investment and policy focus on ending child marriage.

14 September 2023: We invite you to a virtual UNGA side event: Accelerating Action toward Equality in Law for Women and Girls by 2030 from 10:00 – 11:45 am EST/ 3-4.45pm BST. This strategic conversation gathers an interdisciplinary group of distinguished panellists to evaluate progress, heighten attention to gaps that have persisted in the law, and emphasize the urgent need for reform.

21 September 2023: The Governments of Canada and Zambia, together with Child Marriage Monitoring Mechanism and the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme End Child Marriage, are hosting a side-event on 21 September at UNGA78 to strategise what needs to be done to end child marriage and to recommit to accelerate action to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

18-19 September 2023: SDG 5.3 targets an end to child marriage by 2030. Ending child marriage also has a multiplier effect across the SDGs, and meeting any of the SDGs is only possible if we end child marriage. Keep an eye out this month for our key messages on our social media, and in our resource centre.

CHILD MARRIAGE IN CONFLICT-AFFECTED SETTINGS

The ‘polycrisis’ of conflict, climate crisis and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are putting more girls at risk of early marriages and unions.

Read the key takeaways from our recent Child marriage programming and advocacy in conflict- and crisis-affected settings learning webinar.

Read about ways to address child marriage in conflict- and crisis-affected settings in our blog post

WE ARE HIRING!

Want to join Girls Not Brides? We are recruiting for a Senior Officer - Membership Engagement and Learning for Impact - Latin America and the Caribbean based in Guatemala City or Mexico City.