Research strategy for Phase II: UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage
Objectives
The strategy aims to guide Phase II research under the UNFPA–UNICEF Global Programme so that it strengthens evidence on how to end child marriage and support married girls in different contexts. It seeks to align research and learning with the programme’s theory of change, improve the quality and relevance of studies, and ensure that findings inform national policies, programme design and scale-up in a gender-transformative and rights-based way. It also aims to position the Global Programme as a stronger producer and user of evidence that contributes to the global knowledge base on child marriage.
Findings
The document concludes that the evidence base on child marriage has expanded quickly but remains uneven, with much more work on prevalence, determinants and consequences than on intervention effectiveness, implementation and scale. It notes that Phase I research under the Global Programme largely mirrored these patterns, offering limited insight into causal pathways and impact at scale. It identifies major gaps, including evidence on what works for specific subgroups such as very young adolescents, married and formerly married girls, girls in humanitarian settings and boys, as well as gaps in under-researched regions and in gender-transformative approaches that link child marriage with other harmful practices. The strategy therefore emphasises the need for more rigorous impact and implementation research, better use of mixed methods and programmatic data, and stronger integration of research within country programme cycles so that evidence can drive course correction, systems strengthening and sustained change.
Summary
This research strategy sets out how the UNFPA–UNICEF Global Programme will generate and use evidence in Phase II to end child marriage and support married girls. It explains that previous work and global reviews revealed important gaps, particularly around what interventions work, for whom and at what scale, and argues for a more focused and coordinated research agenda. The document outlines new priorities, links research to the programme’s theory of change and country programme cycle, and describes how mixed-methods studies, routine data and evaluation can be combined to strengthen understanding of effective and scalable approaches in diverse contexts.
Purpose
The purpose of the strategy is to guide Global Programme teams and partners in planning and conducting research that fills critical knowledge gaps and improves programmes and policies to end child marriage. It is designed to help country and regional offices identify priority questions, choose appropriate methods, and integrate learning into design, implementation, course correction and scale-up. It also seeks to make the Global Programme a stronger producer and user of high-quality evidence that informs national decision-making and contributes to the global knowledge base, while improving accountability for results at outcome and impact levels.
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