Why engaging with international human rights law matters
Child marriage is a persistent challenge, threatening the rights, autonomy and opportunities of 12 million more girls every year. Through Goal 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals, governments around the world committed to end child marriage by 2030. This political commitment has a strong foundation in international human rights law.
International human rights treaties, like the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are a powerful set of legal frameworks for human rights advocates seeking transformative change. By understanding and using the provisions of these treaties, and state peer review processes like the Universal Periodic Review, civil society organisations can engage with state reporting mechanisms and hold governments accountable for their legal obligations under international human rights law.
The Committees monitoring the implementation of these core international human rights treaties offer many opportunities for civil society organisations to participate in reviewing how states fulfil their human rights obligations, and in pressing for better implementation of human rights law. By incorporating engagement with these human rights monitoring mechanisms into their advocacy strategies, civil society organisations can advance the agenda to end child marriage and support girls and adolescents who are – or have been – married or in a union.
What this toolkit is
This toolkit is a practical companion offering actionable steps and promising practices from Girls Not Brides member organisations around the globe who wish to engage with these UN human rights reporting mechanisms. It is structured into four main sections, one for each key human rights monitoring mechanism:
- The Committee on the Rights of the Child
- The Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women
- The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- The Universal Periodic Review
It can be viewed as one text, or each chapter can be accessed as a standalone section. It includes all the relevant information to engage with these mechanisms at all stages of the reporting cycle to advance national-level advocacy and press governments to take action to end child marriage and respect, protect and fulfil girls’ rights.