Child marriage and education

Keeping girls in school is one of the best ways to prevent child marriage. Child marriage limits girls’ access to quality education. Here you will find key facts, impacts, common drivers and solutions on education and child marriage.

Photo: TESS-India

Links between child marriage and girl’s education

Insights on prioritising girls’ education

Education is a powerful strategy to end child marriage and ensure girls can fulfil their potential. The longer a girl stays in school, the less likely she is to be married before the age of 18 and have children during her teenage years.

Common drivers

The decisions to remove a girl from school or for her to marry as a child are often made at the same time and are influenced by many of the same factors. Work to end child marriage and keep girls in school needs to address these shared underlying factors.

Girls’ education and the SDGs

Governments worldwide have committed to achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Goal 4 includes targets for inclusive and equitable quality education, and promotes lifelong learning for all. The SDGs  will not be met unless we address child marriage.

Find others working on child marriage and education

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Member directory

Use our member directory to find Girls Not Brides member organisations working on issues related to child marriage and girls’ education. You can contact organisations in your country or across the world to share best practice and learnings.

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Fact sheet and brief

CRANK Research Spotlight: Education interventions to address child marriage and support married girls

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Girls’ education and child marriage

Brief exploring the key facts, two-way impacts, common drivers and solutions on education and child marriage. Updated in September 2022.

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A new generation: 25 years of efforts for gender equality in education

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Leave no girl behind in Africa: Discrimination in education against pregnant girls and adolescent mothers

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This report uses insights from the 2014-15 Ebola epidemic and the 2008 global financial crisis to understand the consequences of COVID-19 for girls.

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