An Urgent Call for Collective Advocacy Against Child Marriage: Advancing Adolescent Girls’ Rights and Health

This paper argues that child marriage remains a major threat to adolescent girls' health, development and rights. It says recent policy backsliding and political instability are creating new risks, and uses Iraq, Afghanistan and The Gambia as examples. The authors present a framework that links developmental science, such as girls' evolving capacities and psychosocial maturity, with legal and policy advocacy. They call for collective, evidence-informed and multisectoral advocacy to protect girls and advance gender equality.

Key points

• Child marriage remains a major threat to adolescent girls' health, development and rights worldwide.
• Recent policy backsliding and sociopolitical instability have created new risks for girls.
• Iraq, Afghanistan and The Gambia are used as examples of how legal and political shifts reshape girls' vulnerabilities.
• Evolving capacities and psychosocial maturity should inform marriage laws and protection mechanisms.
• Advocacy and rights-based action should be treated as essential components of adolescent health systems.

Limitations

Only the abstract is available, so the methods, the evidence behind the framework and the country details cannot be assessed. It does not evaluate an intervention or report measured outcomes.