Engaging with UN human rights mechanisms to address child marriage: reflections from Kenya and Uganda
A range of UN systems have been established to promote and protect human rights worldwide. Several of these are particularly relevant for CSOs engaged in advocacy to end child marriage.
International human rights mechanisms are powerful tools for advocates driving transformative change. Through them, CSOs can hold governments accountable for their legal obligations to address child marriage under international human rights law.
To support CSOs’ meaningful engagement with UN state review processes, Girls Not Brides published a step-by-step toolkit for leveraging four key human rights mechanisms to end child marriage.
Key takeaways from National Partnership engagement
Since its publication in April 2024, two Girls Not Brides National Partnerships have been putting the toolkit into practice for different state reporting mechanisms: Girls Not Brides Kenya for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and Girls Not Brides Uganda for the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Girls Not Brides Kenya: Submission to the UPR for Kenya
Ahead of Kenya’s review under the UPR, Girls Not Brides Kenya submitted a report highlighting Kenya’s obligations to end harmful practices, namely child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). The report made key recommendations to the government, including to:
- Finalise and fund Kenya’s National Action Plan to end child marriage;
- Provide training for professionals to strengthen the enforcement of laws against child marriage;
- Undertake data collection and research on child marriage prevalence and drivers, creating a centralised data repository;
- Improve health access by removing legal and policy barriers to sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls;
- Close legal loopholes so as to fully prohibit all forms of FGM;
- Fund and implement strategies to eliminate FGM in hotspot regions.
Reflections from the Kenya National Partnership
The UPR process is a powerful tool for accountability, and leading this engagement has underscored the importance of strategic advocacy. It is not just about presenting recommendations but about ensuring governments take tangible action to uphold the rights of women and girls, particularly in eliminating child marriage and FGM/C. Civil society, especially youth-led movements, plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between policy commitments and lived realities. Through this process, we are not only amplifying voices from the grassroots but also pushing for sustained political will and concrete change.
Marcelino Thuku Waithaka, Girls Not Brides Kenya UPR technical lead
As a young advocate from Kenya, my involvement in the UPR process has been an empowering and transformative experience. Participating in the child rights cluster, I had the opportunity to raise crucial issues related to FGM/C and child marriages, both pressing concerns in my country. The UPR platform allowed me to highlight the deep-rooted cultural traditions that perpetuate these harmful practices and to call for stronger policy interventions and accountability at both national and global levels. The UPR has shown me that youth advocacy is not just about raising awareness but about pushing for concrete action that leads to real change for children.
Viola Jerono, Youth Anti FGM Network Kenya Secretary of the National Steering Committee
Next steps
Recommendations issued by reviewing states to Kenya focusing on harmful practices such as child marriage will be key to advancing advocacy efforts on these issues at national and local levels.
Girls Not Brides Uganda: Engagement with the CRC's review of Uganda
In advance of Uganda’s review by the CRC, Girls Not Brides Uganda developed and submitted a shadow report on child marriage in Uganda. The report made the following recommendations to the government:
- Invest in girls’ education, including the re-entry of child mothers into schools;
- Commit financial resources to the strategy to end child marriage;
- Prioritise funding the gender ministry;
- Promote comprehensive sexuality education;
- Develop public health interventions to tackle child marriage;
- Harmonise laws on minimum age of marriage;
- Digitalise and roll out childbirth registration.
Participating in the development of the shadow report for the CRC was an enriching experience I was proud to contribute to. I gained valuable knowledge about the CRC, how it works and the importance of advocacy using this mechanism.
My takeaway was that the process demonstrated the power of collective action, bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise to write a comprehensive report. Meaningful participation from community members and organizations is crucial for accurate representation and effective advocacy.
Yet developing the report was just the first step; continued efforts are necessary to ensure implementation of the committee’s recommendations. I hope that our report will inspire action by policymakers to address the pressing issues faced by girls that were raised.
Majinjach Festo, Programme Coordinator, Sabiny Transformation Initiative
Participation in the CRC pre-session
Following the submission of the shadow report, Brian Mutebi, Executive Director at Education & Development Opportunity – Uganda, participated in the CRC pre-session in Geneva as Girls Not Brides Uganda’s representative. Speaking on behalf of the National Partnership, he briefed the Committee on child marriage in Uganda, presenting key recommendations to inform the CRC ahead of its state review session with Ugandan government representatives. His insights were based on Girls Not Brides Uganda’s shadow report and follow-up written statement submitted ahead of the pre-session.
This was an excellent opportunity to make our collective voice heard at the highest level of policy advocacy. Engaging in these spaces is crucial for amplifying the voices of national CSOs in global spaces and to follow up on government commitments and national and international obligations to enabling children to thrive. Yet the consultative process of developing the shadow report and training on using the ‘Leveraging UN human rights mechanisms to end child marriage’ toolkit was a great initiative that allowed Girls Not Brides Uganda members to learn and enhance their advocacy skills, particularly in using UN human rights mechanisms to advocate for ending child marriage. Girls Not Brides Uganda will continue engaging in CRC and all UN human rights mechanisms to galvanise efforts to end child marriage.
Brian Mutebi, Executive Director, Education & Development Opportunity – Uganda and a member of Girls Not Brides Uganda
Impact of engagement
Thanks to the National Partnership engagement with the CRC, the Government of Uganda must now address before the formal review session a number of issues around legislative and policy measures to end child marriage. This represents a significant step in holding the government accountable. Crucially, it also contributes to influencing the Committee’s Concluding Observations to Uganda, which serve as powerful tools for national and local advocacy efforts to ending CEFMU and uphold girls’ rights.
How can you engage?
CSOs wishing to leverage UN human rights mechanisms to advance efforts to end child marriage in national contexts are encouraged to consult Girls Not Brides toolkit, which is available in English, Spanish and Nepali.
The toolkit offers actionable steps and promising practices for engaging not only with the UPR and the CRC, but also two other key UN treaty bodies for child marriage advocacy: the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). It includes all the relevant information for engaging with these mechanisms at all stages of the reporting cycle to advance national-level advocacy and press governments to take action to end child marriage and respect, protect and fulfil girls’ and women’s human rights.
The toolkit is also accompanied by additional useful resources to support engagement with UN human rights reporting mechanisms. This includes explanatory video tutorials on each mechanism, as well as a comprehensive table of key upcoming deadlines for CSO engagement and state review dates.
In the time it has taken to read this article 76 girls under the age of 18 have been married
Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18
That is 23 girls every minute
Nearly 1 every 2 seconds