Preventing Child Marriage in the Commonwealth

Royal Commonwealth SocietyChild marriage has gained significant traction in the international community in recent years. It is now globally recognized as a harmful practice, a human rights violation, a development inhibitor, and a consequence and a cause of negative social norms. It is a priority area for action in the Commonwealth, with the Commonwealth Secretariat mandated to work towards ending the practice. Likewise, it has been the subject of resolutions in both the UN Human Rights Council and at the UN General Assembly. This progress is welcome, but significantly more must be done if we are to see real change on the ground.

The Royal Commonwealth Society and Plan UK have worked as partners towards ending child marriage in the Commonwealth since 2010. The launch of their latest report, Preventing Child Marriage in the Commonwealth: the Role of Education, took place at the 19th Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers, and includes new statistics on child marriage prevalence in the Commonwealth, calculated from UNICEF data. Read more at the The Royal Commonwealth Society.

 
 
+ Text Size -