10 years after the Montevideo Consensus, how will we advance the agenda to address child, early and forced marriages and unions in Latin America and the Caribbean?

Earlier this month, the 5th Regional Conference on Population and Development (RCPD) was held from 3 to 4 July in Cartagena de Indias, preceded by the Social Forum and the Youth Forum. These three regional advocacy spaces are key to positioning the comprehensive approach to child, early and forced marriages and unions (CEFMU) among civil society organisations and participating States. They also strengthen networks between organisations, collectives, international agencies and young people, thus advancing the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) agenda through the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus.

The Montevideo Consensus as a key instrument for addressing Child Marriage and Early Unions in the LAC region

The Montevideo Consensus, signed more than 10 years ago, is the most progressive regional population and development agreement on human rights. This agreement is fundamental to address CEFMU in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the active participation of youth in public debate and political decision-making. The 5th RCPD reaffirmed the commitment of States to gender equality, the protection of sexual and reproductive rights, and the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence affecting women, adolescents and girls.

Social Forum and oral statement

The Cartagena 2024 Social Forum, held prior to the 5th RCPD, was a crucial space for dialogue between organised civil society, largely represented by the regional feminist movement. During this forum, the main challenges for the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus were discussed, including structural inequalities, poverty, impunity and the advance of conservative positions. The oral intervention, read by Luisa Castro, youth delegate and co-director of Girl Up Mexico, highlighted the need to address CEFMUs from a perspective of progressive autonomy and a non-punitive, intersectional approach. She also highlighted that:

“In contexts of insecurity, educational and economic exclusion and narco-governments, child marriages and early unions are a strategy for survival for girls, adolescents and their families. This is a cross-cutting and intersectional issue that must be addressed from a youth perspective and with them at the centre"

Side Event: For Children and Adolescents Free from Early and Forced Marriage and Unions

Within the framework of the RCPD, Girls Not Brides, in collaboration with the ALIADAS coalition, organised the side event ‘For Children and Adolescents Free from Early and Forced Marriage and Unions’. During the event, the voices of four young people shared how child marriages and early and forced unions are linked to the structural and gender-based violence faced by girls, adolescents and women in their territories. Although each context presents particularities, the patterns of violence are similar throughout the region.

Reflections from participants

Luz Patricia Mejía, Technical Secretary of MESECVI, moderated the event and highlighted the critical situation of child, early and forced marriages and unions (CEFMU), underlining the need for comprehensive public policies that address sexual violence, teenage pregnancies along with CEFMU:

"We have an absence of monitoring of programmes and policies dedicated to eradicating sexual violence in girls and adolescents under 18, child pregnancies, and also of course early unions. We also have a lack of budget, weak national protection systems. We know that these protection systems, linked to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, still don't land on the prevention of CEFMU".

Andrea Veronica Hernandez Gonzalez, Coordinator of the Youth Area of Mano Vuelta Mexico and Girls Not Brides membership delegate, emphasised the importance of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) for youth, children and adolescents, as well as for parents and teachers:

It is important to highlight that to access sexual and reproductive health services in our communities, it is very far away, there are many barriers, to access anti-fertility methods, to access abortion even when it is legal. We believe that accompanying comprehensive sexuality education with an intercultural and youth approach is essential to be able to deal with these unions or early marriages".

Erika Marjory Domínguez Vallejos from ECMIA and member of pueblo Yanesha de Perú, representative highlighted institutionalised violence and the lack of real data on early unions in indigenous communities:

"Forced displacement due to armed conflict puts girls and adolescents in a vulnerable situation. The presence of external agents, illegal mining, drug trafficking and extractive companies in our indigenous territories, creating a permissive context for sexual violence and all kinds of violence against indigenous children".

Sofía Quiroga, from Equality Now, stressed the need for a holistic perspective and youth participation in regional spaces:

"That all girls and adolescents can think about what their dream is and that we youth activists can create a safer environment so that they can think about that dream and that that dream is not union or marriage, because in many cases these are a survival strategy."

Dina Luz Orellano Esmeral, spoke about the Valientes Project which, in different localities in Colombia, provides information about CEFMU and human rights in order to do community advocacy, and also political advocacy by interacting with Congress with the support of organisations such as Profamilia. Dina stressed that:

"It is important for us to be at these events, because as young women we are the population who experience CEFMU so we are the only ones who can say what the causes are."

Reflection of the Girls Not Brides membership during the 5th RCPD

During the Conference, representatives of the Girls Not Brides membership and youth collectives from various countries in the region reflected on the importance of this space to make CEFMU visible from a holistic perspective, considering children and adolescents as subjects of rights, putting their autonomy and wellbeing at the centre.

For more details on the resolutions and reflections of the Girls Not Brides membership, we invite you to read the full bulletin here.

From regional to global

The 5th RCPD was not only a milestone at the regional level, but also laid the groundwork for further advancing these agendas in global spaces. Thirty years after the first International Conference on Population and Development, it is essential to continue promoting the Montevideo Consensus and sexual and reproductive rights at all levels.

This conference and associated events demonstrate the power of collaboration and joint advocacy to advance the protection and promotion of the rights of children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean.