Child marriage and the SDGs

Governments across the world have committed to end child marriage by 2030 through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Find out how the SDGs relate to child marriage, and the key messages you can use in holding governments to account for their commitment to end child marriage.

Child marriage and the SDGs

In 2015, UN Member States came together to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): a set of 17 goals set out global development priorities between now and 2030. They are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity, centred on the realisation of human rights.

Target 5.3 aims to “eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilations” by 2030

We will not achieve eight of the Sustainable development Goals without ending child marriage.

193 countries have agreed to end child marriage by 2030 under the SDGs

Prioritising girls to achieve the SDGs

Child marriage is a global problem that cuts across countries, cultures, and religions. Around 650 million women and girls alive today were married as children. Unless we accelerate our efforts, 150 million more girls will be married by 2030.

To do this we need to address the root causes of child marriage: gender inequality, poverty, insecurity, and the lack of economic and social opportunities for girls.

These issues are addressed across different SDGs and demonstrates the cross cutting nature of the work that the child marriage movement does every day to bring an end to child marriage. In order to truly bring an end to child marriage we need to encourage development actors working across these goals to address child marriage. We can advocate for them to do this by showing how the different goals link to child marriage.

Fact sheet and brief

The Sustainable Development Goals and child marriage

18 September 2023

Brief outlining the nine Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that depend on ending child marriage, with calls for accelerated action by governments and civil society involvement in holding them to account.

Girls Not Brides materials, Fact sheet and brief

Child Marriage: a Form of Violence Against Children

31 October 2019

Girls who are married before 18 are more likely to suffer from intimate partner violence, including sexual, physical, psychological and emotional violence.

Stop stealing her childhood: Girls Not Brides members demand action from world leaders to end child marriage

15 October 2019

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23 September 2020

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Child marriage and the SDGs