Civil society and budget advocacy to end child marriage: Lessons learned from six pilot projects

Objectives

The document aims to showcase how civil society organisations across six countries; Nigeria, Pakistan (Punjab and Sindh), Kenya, Togo and Mexico, used budget advocacy to strengthen government action to end child marriage. It seeks to demonstrate how local CSOs analysed budgets, engaged policymakers, and influenced resource allocation so that national and subnational plans, child-protection frameworks and gender policies translated into costed, actionable commitments for adolescent girls. The case studies illustrate practical strategies for institutionalising gender-responsive budgeting, improving coordination between government departments, and ensuring that child-marriage prevention and support for married girls are embedded within public financing systems.

Findings

Across all six contexts, the case studies show that targeted budget advocacy can shift government priorities and unlock concrete financial commitments to address child marriage.

1. In Nigeria, gender-responsive budgeting was institutionalised, resulting in dedicated funding lines for girls’ education, child protection and sanitary-pad provision.
2. In Punjab and Sindh, Pakistan, budget analyses helped expose gender gaps, mobilise parliamentarians, and strengthen cross-sectoral coordination, leading to commitments to resource monitoring committees and safe houses for married girls.
3. In Kenya’s Kilifi County, child marriage was elevated within county planning, resulting in costed activities being incorporated into the fiscal cycle.
4. In Togo, municipal authorities adopted child-sensitive budgets and committed to involving young people in budget oversight.
5. In Mexico, civil society monitoring of SIPINNA budgets highlighted gaps in federal-to-local financing and strengthened advocacy for better alignment of public policy with adolescent rights.

Collectively, the cases underscore that when CSOs combine evidence, storytelling and strategic engagement, they can influence policy actors, strengthen accountability, and ensure that ending child marriage becomes a funded government priority.

Summary

This document presents six case studies from Nigeria, Pakistan (Punjab and Sindh), Kenya, Togo and Mexico that illustrate how civil society organisations have used budget advocacy to strengthen government action to end child marriage. It describes how these organisations conducted gender-responsive budget analyses, engaged ministries and parliaments, and pushed for concrete budget lines linked to national strategies, child protection frameworks and adolescent girls’ needs.

The case studies show examples such as institutionalising gender-responsive budgeting in Enugu State (Nigeria), securing costed activities on child marriage in Kilifi County (Kenya), resourcing monitoring committees and safe houses in Sindh (Pakistan), promoting child-sensitive municipal budgets in Togo, and tracking federal allocations for adolescent rights in Mexico. Civil-society-and-budget-advoca…

Overall, the document argues that strategic, evidence-based budget advocacy by civil society can convert policy commitments on ending child marriage into financed programmes, improve coordination across sectors, and enhance transparency and accountability in public spending for girls. It emphasises the importance of combining fiscal evidence with girls’ lived experiences, building relationships with government, and involving girls, communities and local actors in monitoring how resources are allocated and used.

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to demonstrate how civil society organisations across six countries have successfully used budget advocacy to influence government planning, budgeting and resource allocation for ending child marriage. By presenting concrete examples of strategies, outcomes and lessons learned, the document aims to guide practitioners, policymakers and advocates on how to translate policy commitments into funded, accountable and gender-responsive actions that support adolescent girls.

Audience

The document is intended for civil society organisations, government officials, policymakers, donors and advocacy networks working on child marriage, gender equality, adolescent wellbeing and public budgeting.

It specifically targets actors involved in planning, financing and implementing child-protection and gender-focused programmes at national and subnational levels.