A child marriage practitioners' guide to understanding new findings on girls’ agency and decision-making

In this paper, MTBA acknowledges the significant link between norms and values around girls’ sexuality and child marriage practices. The paper elaborates on the practitioners' tips described in the infographic and calls for the incorporation of more contextual and insider knowledge to better understand agency and decision-making, and to improve child marriage policies and programmes. Combining empirical evidence with lived experiences and voices of communities affected by child marriage when designing policies and programmes open pathways to address new, unheard narratives and “shift the power,” moving resources and decision-making closer to those affected by the issue. Together, these elements point towards the expansion and elevation of the practitioner role from implementers to agenda setters, from designing and delivering programmes and interventions to mobilising their agency and that of others.