We’re calling for expanded rights to free education to prevent child marriage!

About the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Existing international law guarantees children free and compulsory primary education, but international human rights treaties say nothing explicit about early childhood education and does not oblige states to guarantee every child free secondary education.

This Optional Protocol would explicitly recognise children’s right to early childhood education, including at least one year of free public pre-primary education, and free public secondary education. The new working group will begin work in 2025. All countries may join it.

The resolution also requests the working group to ensure the meaningful participation of children, allowing them to express their views on the topic and substance of the proposed optional protocol. This marks the first time children will be consulted and given a voice in drafting a new international treaty.

The resolution was advanced by Luxembourg, the Dominican Republic, and Sierra Leone, and co-sponsored by 33 states from across all regions.

About our advocacy efforts

Girls Not Brides worked with Human Rights Watch and other partners to advocate for the establishment of a new Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to explicitly recognize the right to early childhood education, beginning with one year of free pre-primary education, and to guarantee free secondary education.

Advocacy at the 56th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC)

In addition to participating in the informal discussions and highlighting the crucial link between girls’ education and child marriage, Girls Not Brides supported the Girls Not Brides Ghana National Partnership and the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP) to advocate for the establishment for the Optional Protocol at the HRC in Geneva.

Both Ghana and The Gambia were early co-sponsors of the Resolution, joined by Malawi, where the Girls Not Brides Malawi National Partnership, together with the ECD Coalition, the Civil Society Education Coalition, and the NGO Coalition on Child Rights, have been advocating before the Ministry of Education to support the adoption of the Resolution.

At the HRC annual discussion on the human rights of women, Girls Not Brides, GAMCOTRAP, and Equality Now called on states to accelerate efforts to end child marriage and other forms of gender-based economic violence and urged support for the establishment of the new Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

How does the right to free education prevent child marriage?

Poverty often prevents girls from completing their education

For millions of children around the world, the cost of schooling is one of the most significant barriers to education, particularly at the pre-primary and secondary levels. Globally, about 85% of children complete primary school; but less than half complete secondary school or have access to pre-primary education. [1]

Education is key to preventing child marriage and securing girls’ rights

Keeping girls in school is one of the best ways of delaying marriage. Children who attend pre-primary education are more likely to complete secondary education [2]. On average, the likelihood of a girl marrying under the age 18 is six percentage points less for every additional year she stays in secondary education [3]. If countries had free and universal secondary education, there would be almost no child marriage [4].

Free quality education is needed to ensure girls stay in school

To ensure that girls stay in school – and access further rights and opportunities – we need free quality and inclusive education through to the end of secondary school. There is an urgent need to ensure that girls who are pregnant or are parenting can remain in and/or return to school. This means ending discriminatory policies and practices that exclude girls and funding national re-entry strategies. Childcare is essential and providing at least one year of free pre-primary education will support parents, including young mothers, and children.

What next?

How you can help:

1. Raise awareness of the links between child marriage and girls’ education, using our social media toolkit.
2. Ensure your government fulfils its human rights commitments, using our toolkit for civil society organisations to engage in your country’s review on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

You can find all the resources from our recent webinar, where we discussed the proposal for a new Optional Protocol under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The webinar recording, presentation, key takeaways, and a template letter for your national-level advocacy are all available. Please use these materials to urge your government to support the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on expanding free education.