September 2023

THE SDGS AND CHILD MARRIAGE

Unless we end child marriage, we will not
achieve at least nine of the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).

Child marriagea is a global issue that cuts across countries, cultures and religions. Around 650 million girls
and women alive today were married before age 18.

Unless we accelerate our efforts, 150 million more girls will marry or enter a union by 2030,1 and it will
take another 300 years to end the practice.2

Adopted in 2015, the 17 SDGs set out global development

priorities up to 2030. They are a universal call to action to WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN?
end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people
can enjoy peace and prosperity. They are comprehensive, Governments must:
interrelated and centred on the realisation of human rights.
1. P
 rioritise child marriage within the 2030 Agenda to
Goal 5 of the SDGs focuses on gender equality and includes achieve real, long-term change. We will not end child
a target to end child marriage by 2030. marriage by 2030 unless action is scaled up.
But the consequences of not achieving this target reach 2. E
 nsure that all reporting on the progress of the SDGs
beyond Goal 5. Unless we make significant progress on includes meaningful involvement from civil society,
ending child marriage, we will fall short on at least nine including community-based organisations, young
of the SDGs, including those related to poverty, food people and women’s collectives at the national,
security, health, education, gender equality, economic regional and global levels.
growth, climate action, and peace and justice.
3. C
 ommit to action by developing costed national and
In this brief, we use the term “child marriage” to refer to all forms of
a regional action plans to address child marriage that
child, early and forced marriage and unions where at least one party work across sectors and across the development and
is under the age of 18. humanitarian nexus.
WHICH SDGS ARE AT RISK IF WE DON’T
END CHILD MARRIAGE, AND WHY?
Child marriage is both a driver and consequence of poverty. It is most common in the countries and
households with the lowest and most insecure incomes – including those affected by conflict and crisis –
and perpetuates the cycle of poverty across generations. Taking girls out of school when they marry
or enter a union limits their opportunity to earn an income: women who marry before age 18 lose about
9% of earnings.3

When girls have the skills and opportunities to secure paid employment and to develop their abilities,
and when supported by comprehensive social protection systems, they can delay marriage, support
themselves and their families, and break the cycle of poverty.

Food insecurity and malnutrition can be a cause and consequence of child marriage. Girls and women
are more likely to experience food insecurity,4 and they – and their families – may see child marriage as
a way to save or access limited supplies, particularly during conflict and crisis. Babies born to girls under
age 15 are more likely to have low birth weight, suffer from poor nutrition, experience stunting and are
at higher risk of dying before age five.

Addressing child marriage and increasing girls’ and women’s access to productive resources will
contribute to progress on better nutrition and food security for adolescent girls and their children.

90% of adolescent births take place within the context of marriage, and complications related to
adolescent pregnancy and childbirth are among the leading causes of death for 15- to 19-year-old
girls worldwide. The children of married girls face greater health risks, and even death.5 Girls who
marry before age 15 are 50% more likely to experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence.6
Child marriage is also associated with poor mental health outcomes, including emotional distress,
depression and feelings of isolation.

By preventing child marriage and improving adolescent girls’ access to comprehensive sexuality
education and essential services – including child protection, gender-based violence (GBV), mental
health and sexual and reproductive health and rights – we can dramatically improve health and
wellbeing outcomes for millions of girls and children worldwide.

Girls who are already out of school are more likely to marry before age 18. Marriage also usually
means an end to formal education for girls, as they take on more household responsibilities,
childbearing and parenthood. They may also face stigma, forced exclusion from school and gendered
social norms that keep them at home. Girls – including married girls – in conflict- and crisis-affected
settings face additional barriers to education, including increased fear of sexual and gender-based
violence at or on the way to school, trafficking and violent attempts to repress their education.

Education is a powerful way to prevent child marriage and promote gender equality. It can offer
protection, access to caring adults and peers, and an opportunity for girls to gain the knowledge, skills
and power they need to challenge discriminatory gender norms and determine their own futures.

Child marriage is rooted in gender inequality and the belief that girls
are worth less than boys. It is recognised as a form of GBV and often Goal 5 includes
violates their rights to health and education, and compromises their the target to end
economic and political participation. Gender equality is an effective child marriage:
indicator of overall progress towards a fairer world, which we will not SDG 5.3: ‘Eliminate
achieve without ending child marriage. all harmful practices,
such as child, early
Addressing child marriage can be an entry point to address broader
and forced marriage
gender inequality and violence. By addressing harmful practices and
and female genital
discriminatory social norms, we can ensure the voices and decisions
mutilation’
of girls and women are as valued as those of boys and men.
Girls who marry young – or without consent or choice – have little decision-making power. They also
face multiple barriers to participating in the economy, with greater caring responsibilities and reduced
opportunities to study, earn or gain economic independence; many are forced into the unregulated
informal economy. Child marriage keeps young people from contributing to the growth of greener,
more equitable economies, and costs the world trillions of dollars.

By ending child marriage and ensuring that adolescents – including those affected by climate crisis
and conflict – have access to the education, information and services they need, they would be able to
decide if, when and how many children to have, increase their educational attainment and compete
for employment on a more equal footing. This would result in more inclusive economic production,
enabling countries to make significant advances to alleviate poverty and invest in social justice and
climate resilience.

Child marriage prevalence varies within and between countries and regions. It is most common
among the populations that have been most marginalised – because of factors like their gender, age,
race, class, ethnicity or location – including those affected by conflict and crisis. Girls from these
populations face more barriers to accessing the services and resources they need, and are put at higher
risk of being trafficked or exploited, often because their births or marriages are not legally registered.
Most progress on child marriage has been among girls from the richest families, while prevalence has
increased among those from the lowest-income households in most regions.7

Reducing inequalities means supporting the girls who have been most marginalised, employing
intersectional and gender-transformative approaches that address the root causes of marginalisation
and child marriage. Interventions must be girl-centred, cross-sectoral and act at multiple levels of a girls’
interconnected environment to build their rights, agency and autonomy.

Climate-related disruptions to income and food security at the household and communal level put
girls at particular risk of child marriage and other forms of GBV as families struggle to cope. Recent
data confirms this link: for every 10% change in rainfall due to climate change, child marriage increases
1%.8 Child marriage can also impact on communities’ ability to adapt to climate change, as it exacerbates
gendered inequalities and risks, and limits educational opportunities.

Reducing climate vulnerability and building resilience under this Goal means working with those most
at risk to ensure adaptation and mitigation actions are effective and equitable. This means prioritising
support for the girls who have been most marginalised – those who are most at risk of child marriage
during climate crisis, and those who are or have been married.

Child marriage is recognised as a human rights violation and a form of violence against women and
girls. Girls who marry before age 18 are at greater risk of sexual, physical and psychological violence
throughout their lives; they are at particular risk from their partners and their partners’ families. Child
marriage is also more common during conflict and crisis – nine of the 10 countries with the highest child
marriage prevalence are experiencing fragility;9 and for every 10-fold increase in conflict deaths, child
marriage increases 7%.10

Ending child marriage and violence against women and girls means investing in programmes that
address the norms and beliefs that devalue and discriminate against girls and women. It means
implementing strong legal and political frameworks that centre girls’ rights and go beyond setting the
minimum age of marriage at 18 to also ensure girls’ access to education, health, child protection, justice
and divorce services, especially during conflict and crisis.

The SDGs champion the power of partnership and highlight the importance of bringing together
multiple stakeholders to drive change. Given the complexity and connections between child marriage
and other development issues, work to end it and achieve the SDGs must be multisectoral and
happen at the individual, community, service provision and policy levels – and we can only achieve
transformation at this scale if we work together.

We need long-term, costed plans at the global, regional and national level to ensure adequate and
large-scale implementation of effective child marriage interventions. Civil society is a key partner in
developing these plans, supporting their implementation and holding governments accountable for
their commitments.
Reviewing the progress on
achieving the SDGs
The High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) is the official mechanism for
reviewing progress on the SDGs.

Civil society has a critical role to play in achieving the SDGs, and in
holding governments accountable for their commitments. Meaningful
civil society engagement, including community-based organisations and
youth and women’s collectives, is needed at every stage of the HLPF
process, including national and regional consultations, and at global
reviews. National follow-up mechanisms need to include civil society
representatives. Civil society offers unique insights into the SDGs and
plays an important role in holding governments accountable for their
commitments, and in highlighting local challenges.

Progress must be reported in a consistent and comprehensive method.

Country-level Voluntary National Reviews should use a standardised
format to assess the progress of each Goal, including challenges and
actions. By providing realistic and holistic reviews, we can better
assess gaps and take action. All regions should introduce Peer Review
Mechanisms to ensure collaborative, regionally-specific learning and
sharing of promising practices on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Turning commitments into actions. Governments must prioritise

clear action and pathways through showing leadership in ending child
marriage and implementing programmes that will ensure every girl can
determine her future.

References Published in September 2023 by

Girls Not Brides
UNICEF, 2021, Child marriage database.
1

Seventh Floor
2
UNICEF, 2023, Is an end to child marriage within reach? 65 Leadenhall Street
3
ICRW and World Bank, 2017, Economic impacts of child marriage. London
EC3A 2AD
4
UN Women, 2022, Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2022.
United Kingdom
5
UNFPA, 2015, Girlhood, not motherhood: Preventing adolescent pregnancy.
0203 725 5858
6
Kidman, R., 2017, “Child marriage and intimate partner violence: A comparative study of 34
countries,” 0207 603 7811
2017, International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol 46, Issue 2, pp. 662–675. www.GirlsNotBrides.org
[email protected]
7
Ibid.
GirlsNotBrides
8
UNICEF, 2023, op. cit. www.facebook.com/GirlsNotBrides
9
Council on Foreign Relations, 2014, Working Paper: Fragile States, Fragile Lives.
10
UNICEF, 2023, op. cit.

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civil society organisations from over 100 countries committed to by guarantee (Reg. No. 8570751) and
ending child marriage and ensure girls can reach their full potential. a registered charity in England and
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