Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) introduced the
International Child Marriage Prevention and Assistance Act today, which calls on
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other relevant
agencies to devise a strategy to fight child marriage as part of broader
development efforts, including improving education, health care and
governance.
"This legislation is an important step in helping the
millions of girls and their families worldwide who feel they have no choice but
to marry their daughters too young," says Geeta Rao Gupta, president of ICRW.
Read the press release.
Billions of dollars in U.S. development assistance to reduce poverty, ensure
the survival of infants and mothers in pregnancy and childbirth, fight AIDS and
invest in girls’ education could be used more effectively by also targeting
child marriage, according to experts from the International Center for Research
on Women (ICRW) and the Center for Global Development (CGD).
ICRW and
CGD sponsored a discussion on child marriage and its implications for
development as part of ICRW's child marriage speaker tour.
Read the press release.
Read the speaker biographies.
New research and success stories of on-the-ground efforts to reduce child
marriage point the way for improving the lives of millions of girls worldwide
and strengthening U.S. international efforts to reduce poverty, ensure the
survival of infants and mothers in pregnancy and childbirth, fight AIDS and
invest in girls’ education.
ICRW and the Population Reference
Bureau co-sponsored an event to discuss child marriage and ways to improve the
effectiveness of U.S. development assistance. Read the press
release.