WUNRN
Girls Not Brides
Child marriage robs 10 million girls a year of their childhood.
Girls Not Brides is made up of organisations working all over the world to end child marriage, support child brides and raise the profile of this neglected issue.
Joining Girls
Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
Our partnership is still growing. Membership is open to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to end child marriage anywhere in the world, which endorse our Mission Statement and agree to our Membership Principles. To register interest in becoming a member, please contact us at GirlsNotBrides@theElders.org.
Please note that membership is not open to individuals, but there are plenty of ways for individuals to get involved.
An ‘Associate’ status is reserved for government bodies, intergovernmental agencies, donors and other actors who are interested in collaborating with Girls Not Brides. To sign up as an Associate organisation, please send an email to GirlsNotBrides@theElders.org.
Mission Statement
Members of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage are committed to ending child marriage, a harmful traditional practice that affects millions of children, predominantly girls, every year. As members of Girls Not Brides, we are joining together to accelerate efforts to prevent child marriage, and to support girls who are or have been married, all over the world.
Girls Not Brides will amplify the voices of girls at risk of child marriage and defend the rights of girls to health, education and the opportunity to fulfil their potential. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, we believe that 18 should be the minimum age of marriage for boys and girls.
In working to end child marriage, we believe that social change cannot succeed without community engagement. Members of Girls Not Brides will work together to enhance and strengthen efforts to end child marriage at community, local, national and global levels. Specifically, Girls Not Brides aims to:
- Raise awareness of the harmful impact of child marriage
by encouraging open, inclusive and informed discussion at the community,
local, national and international level;
- Facilitate learning and coordination between
organisations working to end child marriage; and
- Mobilise all necessary policy, financial and other
support to end child marriage.
We will be more effective in achieving our objectives by working together than by working alone.
Membership
principles
Members of Girls Not Brides will:
- Actively contribute to the efforts of Girls Not
Brides to end child marriage worldwide, recognising that ending child
marriage requires community engagement and action and that global and
national efforts should ultimately support local change;
- Positively and constructively engage with other
members, as well as governments and other relevant actors at a local,
national and global level;
- Include girls’ and young people’s voices and representation
in working to end child marriage;
- Work towards ensuring that no child marries before the
age of 18, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
which all but two nations have ratified;
- Commit to transparency, accountability and good
governance in our work to end child marriage