Advocacy
Opportunities, information and guidance on how to engage in sub-national, national, regional and global advocacy to end child marriage.
At Girls Not Brides we want to see local and national governments, regional bodies, and global institutions direct money and resources towards ending child marriage. We advocate for child marriage laws, policies and programmes that empower girls and their communities. We want them to be well-financed, comprehensive, and multi-sectoral.
We are global and regional advocates. We work with key partners and member organisations on global and regional advocacy initiatives and campaigns to engage decision-makers and keep child marriage on the political agenda. We support others to integrate approaches to end child marriage through their own work. Child marriage is an issue that must be addressed across the humanitarian, development and human rights sectors.
We are national advocates. We partner with our member organisations to advocate for effective responses to child marriage at a national level. We demand accountability from decision-makers. We share lessons learned, evidence and data about what works to end child marriage. Together with our membership, we hold governments to account for implementing their national child marriage strategies and programmes.
Global advocacy opportunities and campaigns
When we put the causes, implications and solutions to child marriage in the spotlight, we can boost political support for global decision-makers to address the issue. Girls Not Brides uses key moments in the global advocacy calendar to advance global efforts to end child marriage. We support the development of global standards and policies, and we drive resources and political will to efforts at the national and local level.
- We work with platforms such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the global intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality, to spotlight the work of civil society to end child marriage in their countries and communities. We engage key decision-makers from UN Member States and bodies to address the issue during the annual two-week session in March.
- We advocate for the UN and Human Rights Council Child, Early and Forced Marriage Resolutions to contain strong and relevant language on child marriage, and urge governments to co-sponsor resolutions and show their support.
- Goal 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - a road map to ending poverty and achieving prosperity for all by 2030 - specifically outlines UN Member States' commitment to ending child marriage within this time frame. The Girls Not Brides Partnership and movement to end child marriage holds states accountable for their action. Each year, we mobilise and support our member organisations to engage in the annual SDG process and hold their own government to account.
Budget advocacy
Budget advocacy is a strategic approach to influence governments’ public budgets, to ensure they walk the talk on action for girls.
Government funding allocations are a mirror of political will. The decisions governments make about funding policies, programmes and services for girls can have a direct impact on a girl’s life: her health, education, her safety and protection from violence.
This is why we want to see these interventions for girls planned for, costed and funded across sectors, in government budgets, and to see those funds spent effectively at all levels for girls – which is where our work in budget advocacy comes in!