Child Marriage Research to Action Network
The CRANK is a joint initiative and platform for a coordinated global research agenda on child marriage, and to encourage the uptake of research by policy makers and practitioners. On this page, you can explore what we do, share your research and sign up for virtual meetings and research digests.
The Child Marriage Research to Action Network (the CRANK) is a joint initiative of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) - United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Global Programme to End Child Marriage.
The CRANK:
- Provides a platform for a better coordinated and harmonised global research agenda on child marriage.
- Encourages the uptake of research by policymakers and practitioners.
The CRANK brings child marriage researchers, practitioners and policymakers together every three months to share and discuss the latest evidence on priority learning topics. It is also a knowledge management mechanism through which we track ongoing and upcoming research by CRANK members, monitor patterns and identify gaps.
Find out more about the background of the CRANK.
*The Global Programme is generously funded by the Governments of Belgium, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, the European Union and Zonta International.
Get involved
Sign up to the CRANK
CRANK is open to all. By signing up you can participate in research sessions, receive the biannual research digest and share your work through the online research tracker.
Share your research
You can share details of your ongoing and upcoming research to be included in the CRANK's online research tracker. By doing this, you are contributing to a coordinated, harmonised global research agenda.
See what others are working on
The CRANK's online research tracker is a curated resource with details of ongoing and upcoming research by CRANK members. Use it to avoid duplicating research, and to identify priority research areas.
Join our Research Meetings
Join our online meetings to learn about and discuss the latest child marriage evidence and practice. Explore resources from previous meetings on a wide range of topics in English, French, Spanish.
Access Research Spotlights
Gain insights for evidence-based action with our research synthesis and summaries - highlighting key considerations and tools to guide your programming, research and advocacy.
Related content
What's known & what's next: Charting future action on the mental health consequences of child marriage
A thematic brief and summary report from the CRANK's symposium on child marriage and mental health, including evidence on what works, priorities and practical tools to support girls who are, or have been, married.
CRANK Research Spotlight: Education interventions to address child marriage and support married girls
Brief and poster exploring the evidence behind the WHO recommendation to remove gender-based barriers and ensure girls' completion of 12 years of quality education. Includes implications for policy and programmatic work and research, and practical tools to support implementation of such interventions.
CRANK Research Spotlight: Economic empowerment interventions to address child marriage
Brief and poster looking at the evidence behind the WHO recommendation to implement interventions to improve girls' economic empowerment, and the implications for policy and programmatic work and research. Includes further evidence, insights and practical tools to implement these initiatives.
CRANK Research Spotlight: Addressing child marriage and supporting married girls in conflict- and crisis-affected settings
Research Spotlight covering the latest research and evidence related to child marriage programming in conflict- and crisis-affected settings, including key takeaways, evidence gaps and ideas for further research and programming.
CRANK Research Spotlight: How to ensure efforts to address child marriage reach the most marginalised girls
Research spotlight covering evidence on latest research and evidence related to child marriage programming in hard-to-reach contexts – such as conflict settings – and targeting girls who have been the most marginalised.
Evidence review: Child marriage interventions and research from 2020 to 2022
Review looking at emerging evidence on interventions to prevent and respond to child marriage and support married girls. Includes key takeaways organised by theme and recommendations for child marriage research, programming, policy and funding.
CRANK Research Spotlight: Successful multisectoral and multilevel approaches to address child marriage
Brief summarising the latest research and evidence, with key takeaways from featured studies, and highlighting current evidence and funding gaps. It also includes tools for practitioners to strengthen design and…
Research Spotlight: 'Child marriage in humanitarian settings' and 'challenging gender norms to end child marriage'
Research Spotlight covering evidence on girl-led and girl-centred research in humanitarian settings, and on challenging gender norms to end child marriage.
Research Spotlight: Gender-transformative and systems approaches to ending child marriage and promoting girls’ rights
Research Spotlight covering evidence on gender-transformative approaches to ending child marriage, and systems approaches to upholding girls’ rights and delaying age of marriage.
Advancing the evidence base on strategies to end child marriage and support married girls: Meeting report
Report from a meeting of experts convened to review the evidence on child marriage, identify priorities and coordinate research uptake to support the global movement to end child marriage.
Find out more and collaborate to end child marriage
Learning and Resources
Here we provide thematic overviews of the latest evidence on child marriage and what works to end it, as well as practical guidance on how to use this in your work. We share a selection of briefs, fact sheets, toolkits and other leaning products on child marriage, as well as guidance on advocacy, youth activism and fundraising.
Member directory
An online directory of all Girls Not Brides member organisations working to end child marriage. It allows you to search for specific member organisations around the world and learn more about their work.