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How we work

Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of over 800 member organisations in more than 95 countries working to end child marriage.

To ensure that the Partnership operates as a strong global network, the collective work of Girls Not Brides members is supported by a secretariat based in the UK. Staff are also based in India, Kenya, and Senegal.

Girls Not Brides counts National Partnerships, composed of members who want to work collectively at national level to accelerate progress towards ending child marriage, as well as working groups.

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The Secretariat

The secretariat rallies support to end child marriage by:

  • Increasing the visibility and understanding of the impact of child marriage, and amplifying local and global efforts driven by members to end the practice
  • Tracking and sharing global and regional policy developments with members, and spearheading collective advocacy to include child marriage in development and human rights frameworks
  • Facilitating collective action by members at the global, regional and national levels
  • Ensuring members are equipped with the necessary tools and information to strengthen their work
  • Developing a shared understanding of promising approaches to ending child marriage
  • Nurturing relationships with governments and multilateral institutions, media outlets, potential donors, UN bodies and academic institutions, to increase their interest and commitment to ending child marriage
  • The secretariat is committed to ensuring that all Girls Not Brides members feel valued and supported, and that opportunities to engage are accessible, relevant and of direct benefit to the greatest number of members
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Our Members

Members contribute to the Partnership and engage with one another, as well as with the secretariat, in a variety of ways, depending on their interests and capacity.

Members’ active and diverse contributions are crucial if the Partnership is to thrive. With their experience, unique understanding and their longstanding work with girls and communities affected by child marriage, Girls Not Brides members inform the strategy, activities and messaging of our global Partnership.

Members all have a role to play in the Partnership, including by:

  • Reporting important national or regional-level policy developments and strategic opportunities to the secretariat;
  • Sharing information about their child marriage-related work. This enables the secretariat to link up members with mutual interests, highlight their activities, and connect members with promising media, funding and other opportunities;
  • Embracing opportunities to interact with other members to learn from each other’s work, such as in our regular webinars;
  • Collaborating with other Girls Not Brides members at the national level to develop country-specific strategies to ensure that global action is underpinned by strong national and local-level progress. At the national level, members have also come together in many countries to form Girls Not Brides National Partnerships;
  • Participating in collective advocacy initiatives at the global, regional and national levels;
  • Helping to grow the movement by recommending other organisations also working on child marriage.

Members do not have a formal legal status within the context of Girls Not Brides.

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National Partnerships

In some countries, members have come together to form national alliances, coalitions or networks to end child marriage. Some of these groups have decided to explicitly associate themselves with Girls Not Brides. They have aligned their objectives with the global objectives of Girls Not Brides and identified themselves as Girls Not Brides National Partnerships. Their relationship with the secretariat is defined through a Memorandum of Understanding.

Others have chosen a different name and identity that is more appropriate to their national context and/or to include members other than non-governmental organisations. Their relationship with the secretariat is defined through a Collaboration of Agreement.

The National Partnerships do not have a formal legal structure within the context of Girls Not Brides.

Find out more about Girls Not Brides National Partnerships. 

Youth Advocates

At Girls Not Brides, we believe that we will not end child marriage without the sustained and active engagement of youth, whose unique expertise, experience and commitment are critical to our collective advocacy.

We aim to ensure that diverse groups of young people, and their organisations, are able to play an active, meaningful role in the Global Partnership, and to strengthen their abilities as youth activists in the process.

Working Groups

Smaller groups of members come together to focus on specific issues or around a particular event. Such informal working groups may be time-bound (e.g. to discuss common efforts and ideas around the Day of the African Child) or more long-term (e.g. a working group on global advocacy focused on the United Nations and Human Rights Council). Each working group is managed in a way that is most suited to the objective at hand and the needs of the members.

The working groups do not have a formal legal structure within the context of Girls Not Brides.

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