End Child Marriage By 2030? Yes, But It Won’t Be Easy

Global leaders call for an end to child marriage at the 69th Commission on the Status of Women and Girls

Education, advocacy, reform, and determination stand out as keys to ending forced marriage, globally

Watch the conversation held in partnership with CGI here

Thirty years ago, during the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton declared the rallying cry – “Women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.” At that same conference, the United Nations established the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which included a goal to end all forced and child marriage by 2030. 

Global leaders gathered last Wednesday, during the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, for the event, “No Child Left a Bride: Successes and Setbacks in the Global Effort to End Child Marriage,” to share strategies and best practices to reach the UN’s goal. Ending forced marriage was among a wide range of gender equality discussions organized with the help of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) last week, including sessions on sexual and reproductive health, economic empowerment, women’s participation in democracy, and more.

Under the leadership of Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Dr. Chelsea Clinton, ending forced marriage will remain a priority for CGI and its community of doers. CGI commitment-makers like Equality Now and Girls Not Brides are among those leading this cause – domestically and globally – by increasing awareness, resourcing local efforts, and developing solutions for the future. Clinton was amongst the global panelists Wednesday, cognizant of this precarious moment in time but still determined that progress was possible.

“I often think of the great civil rights leader here in the United States who worked on women’s rights around the world, Coretta Scott King, who reminded us that progress has to both be protected and defended while advancing with every generation,” Clinton said. “I think at times we may have forgotten that we have to protect and defend progress while looking to advance it. And now I think we have to be in continual conversation and collaboration and solidarity with one another while we work to protect where we can, defend where we must, and advance wherever possible.”

Each year, millions of girls are married before their 18th birthdays, and according to a 2023 study from UN Women, forced marriage denies girls a chance to develop their full potential, including less access to education, earlier pregnancy, higher risks of sexual violence, domestic violence, financial abuse, and more. Compared to women who marry later in life, girls who marry before 18 years old are more likely to earn less over their lifetimes, and tend to live in poverty along with their families. 

Globally, 43 countries have either attempted or succeeded in passing reform to change the minimum age of marriage. However, in the United States, only 13 out of 50 states have passed legislation to raise the legal marrying age to 18 years old, no exemptions. And according to panelist and activist Fraidy Reiss, Founder and Executive Director of Unchained At Last –  a survivor-led organization focused on eliminating child marriage in the US – each victory was not without its battle scars.

“Every single one of those 13 states where we have helped ban child marriage, each one was a fight. Each one was a war. Each one – I sometimes compare it to giving birth. It’s just such a painful and arduous process,” she said. “It should be so simple. It costs nothing. There’s no price tag. It harms no one, except those who would prey on girls.”

Sierra Leone, the Dominican Republic, Colombia – and most recently Kuwait – have all successfully banned early marriage in their countries, due in large part to an intersectional approach that combines strong policy and legal reforms, initiatives that supported the education and advancement of girls, community advocacy, and an unshakable will to make change. 

Dr. Isata Mahoi, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, was among the panelists who shared lessons learned from her country’s successful campaign to ban child marriage in 2024, led by President Julius Maada Bio, First Lady Fatima Maada Bio, and the people of Sierra Leone. 

Education is the biggest deterrent of early marriage. Research shows that every year of schooling reduces a girl’s likelihood of forced marriage, which strengthens her ability to make her own choices. Several leaders called for increased funding for education programs and survivor-led initiatives and organizations. 

The Dominican Republic has effectively outlawed child marriage in part by classifying early unions as a form of gender-based violence. Hon. Mayra Jiménez, Dominican Republic’s Minister of Women, said the country is working to change the legal code and specifically criminalize any adult attempting to marry an underaged girl as well as sanctioning anyone who would facilitate the marriage of a girl to an adult male. 

Ending child marriage also requires a shift in the narrative. In Sierra Leone, advocacy from men and boys, as well as religious and traditional leaders, played a huge role in shifting societal perspectives in favor of change. Meanwhile, in the U.S., state legislators can invoke the image of “Romeo and Juliet” when referencing child marriage, Clinton said – two children in love who feel compelled to run away and get married. Survivors know that reality is much darker than fiction, so organizations like Unchained At Last encourage legislators to hear authentic stories of child marriage, stories of trauma, rape, and abuse. 

“It’s really hard at that point for legislators to continue clinging to these outdated and romanticized notions of human rights abuse,” Reiss said.

On a global level, what affects one country affects all, Clinton said, and “we are going to be more vulnerable, if we do not recognize how deeply interconnected we all are.”

“I have tremendous faith in the United States,” she shared, “yet also deeply mindful that we have a long ways to go on ending child marriage and ensuring that we, too, keep our sacred commitment to every girl in this country so that she can grow up to be whoever she determines she wants to be.”

“No Child Left a Bride” was held in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), Unchained At Last, the African Child Policy Forum, Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Equality Now, Girls Not Brides, UN Women, the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic, and the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone.