Tools for Change: Advancing Gender Equality to End Child Marriage in Latin America and the Caribbean

We cannot end child, early, and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU) without addressing the deep-rooted causes of gender inequality and intersecting systems of oppression that sustain it.

To truly rebalance power and ensure that all women and girls – in all their diversity – enjoy equal rights, status and opportunities regardless of their gender, Girls Not Brides – as the global partnership to end child marriage – is committed to strengthening and mainstreaming strategies that identify and transform the structural causes that perpetuate gender inequalities at every level: individual, community and institutional.

Now, something innovative is taking shape: CSO members in Latin America and the Caribbean have collectively developed a practical and accessible gender transformative approaches (GTA) Compass for civil society organisations to:

• Analyse their work – both at the organisational and project levels.
• Identify where they stand along the gender transformative continuum.
• Take action to strengthen gender equality in everything they do.

This isn’t just another framework – it's a mirror and a compass that helps organisations see where they are and chart their next steps towards transformative change.

In this collective learning space:

• We emphasised the need for gender-transformative approaches (GTA) to advance gender equality and social justice, which are indispensable for CEFMU prevention and response, recalling that LAC is the only region in the world where there has been no significant reduction in the prevalence of CEFMU in more than twenty years.
• We shared the co-creation process of reflection and critical dialogue with LAC member organisations, and technical collaboration with Data Cívica, to develop and refine the online GTA Compass and its key features, the final version of which will be available to members in 2026.
• We heard from two member organisations from Mexico and Guatemala about their experience of applying the GTA Compass at the project and organisational level.

Key Takeaways

1. Gender transformative approaches (GTAs) are fundamental because the structural root causes of CEFMU are gender inequality and discriminatory social norms that disproportionately affect girls and adolescent girls. GTA strengthen progressive autonomy, centre a rights-based approach, intersectionality, inclusion and, crucially, the voice and choice of girls and adolescent girls in all their diversity.
2. Gender transformative approaches are strengthened through practice: The GTA Compass enables organisations to translate theoretical concepts into real-life practical processes for transformation, highlighting progress, tensions and opportunities, and strengthening organisational capacities to transform both their projects and their internal structures, catalysing change in the lives of girls and adolescent girls.
3. There is no single path to gender transformation. The path towards gender equality depends on context; however, critical reflection, collective dialogue, participation and institutional coherence are key ingredients.
4. Change must begin within organisations. The GTA Compass helps organisations to transform their internal structures, governance, leadership styles and relationships of power to align with and catalyse sustainable, impactful and transformative external change.
5. The piloting of the GTA Compass was a space for accompaniment, not evaluation. The GTA Compass facilitates teams to identify progress and challenges without judgement, building trust, collective learning and continuing improvement.
6. The GTA Compass is adaptable to context, project and organisational profile. The LAC experience shows using the GTA Compass is not a one-size-fits-all recipe, but a flexible guide that can be adapted to different cultural, political and organisational realities.
7. It facilitates conversations that are normally avoided because they are uncomfortable. The GTA Compass creates a shared language and a safe space for dialogue about power, gender, sexuality, privilege and intersectionality, both within organisations and in their work in communities.
8. The value is in the process of using the GTA Compass, not just the outcome. Rather than focusing on scores or "levels of transformation" (along the gender integration continuum), the GTA Compass promotes critical reflection, collective action, and the continuation of dialogue and learning within the team, leadership, and organisation.