Mariage des enfants et ODD

In 2015, UN Member States came together to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): a set of 17 goals set out global development priorities between now and 2030. They are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity, centred on the realisation of human rights.

Child marriage impacts on the SDGs

Every year, 12 million girls are married before their 18th birthday.

Child marriage perpetuates poverty, inequality and insecurity and is an obstacle to global development. A lack of attention to child marriage undermined the achievement of many of the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015). Since then, the international community has learned a lot, and in 2015, an extended set of development goals included a specific target to end child, early and forced marriage. Target 5.3 aims to “eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage”. This is an important tool to drive action, hold governments to account for their commitments to girls, and track progress on ending child marriage globally.

Prioritising girls to achieve the SDGs

Child marriage is a global problem that cuts across countries, cultures, and religions. Around 650 million women and girls alive today were married as children. Unless we accelerate our efforts, 150 million more girls will be married by 2030.

To do this we need to address the root causes of child marriage: gender inequality, poverty, insecurity, and the lack of economic and social opportunities for girls. These issues are addressed across different SDGs and demonstrates the cross cutting nature of the work that the child marriage movement does every day to bring an end to child marriage. In order to truly bring an end to child marriage we need to encourage development actors working across these goals to address child marriage. We can advocate for them to do this by showing how the different goals link to child marriage.