Girls across the world have a brighter future thanks to a new grant from the Netherlands’ largest charity lottery, Nationale Postcode Loterij, which will support Girls Not Brides in its work to end child marriage and ensure all girls have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
“Child marriage has a devastating impact on girls, their families and their communities, as well as costing the global economy trillions of dollars,” said Mabel van Oranje, Chair of Girls Not Brides. “Over the last six years, Girls Not Brides, our members and partners have put this issue on the global agenda and pressed for new laws, policies and programmes to support girls. Rates of child marriage are reducing globally, but unless we step up our efforts the global number of women married as children will reach 1.2 billion by 2050. Now is the time to act.”
Each year, 15 million girls are married before the age of 18. As well as denying girls their rights and their childhood, marriage often means the end of a girl’s education and can have profound physical and emotional consequences.
Lakshmi Sundaram, Executive Director of Girls Not Brides, said: “Our members around the world are doing great work to end child marriage and improve the lives of girls. Girls Not Brides is delighted to partner with the Nationale Postcode Loterij. This grant will support a range of activities across our strategic goals to support civil society and create tangible change for girls.”
About Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of more than 850 civil society organisations from over 95 countries committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfil their potential.
Members are based throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. They share the conviction that every girl has the right to lead the life that she chooses and that, by ending child marriage, we can achieve a safer, healthier and more prosperous future for all.
For more information or to arrange interviews with Lakshmi Sundaram, Executive Director of Girls Not Brides, contact: Charlotte Rose, media@GirlsNotBrides.org, +44 7436 095 435