The Elders

Independent global leaders working together for peace and human rights.

Child marriage

Child marriage affects millions of girls worldwide. The Elders are bringing together organisations working locally, nationally and internationally to build a global partnership to end this harmful practice.

Videos 07 June 2013

Child marriage and US foreign policy

“This was a hidden issue, only two years ago.”

Mary Robinson discusses The Elders’ campaign to end child marriage as both a moral imperative in its own right, and as a global development and foreign policy priority, at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Watch the video

Guest blog Girls Not Brides, 28 May 2013

5 reasons why an end to child marriage will improve maternal health

"A 10 per cent reduction in child marriage could be associated with a 70 per cent reduction in a country's maternal mortality rates."

As world leaders and civil society organisations gather in Kuala Lumpur for Women Deliver 2013, a major global conference on women's health, Girls Not Brides discuss the links between maternal health and early marriage.

News 14 March 2013

How can policy-makers help protect women and girls from violence?

“People can change their attitudes. We have to help them do it.”

Speaking at an inquiry of the UK International Development Committee, Gro Harlem Brundtland discusses what parliamentarians and policy-makers can do to ensure development programming tackles gender-based violence.

News 04 March 2013

US legislates to prevent child marriage worldwide

In a development welcomed by child marriage activists, the United States Congress has passed a bill stating that child marriage breaches fundamental human rights – and requiring the US to integrate the prevention of this harmful practice across its development programmes.

Elders blog Gro Harlem Brundtland, 29 January 2013

2030: a world free of child marriage

“It is ambitious to say that we can end child marriage by 2030, but I am convinced it is possible.”

Writing for Impatient Optimists, Gro Harlem Brundtland argues that including an end to child marriage in the UN’s new development goals would do much to empower girls, provide them with opportunities and ensure their well-being.

Elders blog Graça Machel, 17 January 2013

To end child marriage we need to speak louder, with one voice

“To be successful in eradicating child marriage by 2030, there is no village, no township, no corner of this great continent that should not hear the message that child marriage can end.”

Following a meeting with Girls Not Brides member organisations from across Africa last year, Graça Machel urges African civil society to unite in their efforts to end child marriage.

News 06 December 2012

African campaigners come together to tackle child marriage

“We ought to do everything in our power to ensure girls can become all they can be.” Desmond Tutu

In November, Desmond Tutu and Graça Machel took part in a Girls Not Brides conference discussing how to end child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa. The event in South Africa brought together activists, campaigners and experts from across the continent.

Elders blog Desmond Tutu, 22 November 2012

Let us measure up as men

“I call on men and boys everywhere to take a stand against the mistreatment of girls and women. It is by standing up for the rights of girls and women that we truly measure up as men.”

To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Desmond Tutu argues that child marriage is a form of violence. Writing for the Skoll World Forum and CNN, he urges men and boys to challenge harmful traditions and protect the rights of girls and women.

News 18 October 2012

“Can we end child marriage in one generation? Yes!”

For the International Day of the Girl 2012, Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson travelled to the United States to take part in a series of events marking the day, including a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a high-level panel discussion with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and a live web conversation with child marriage activists and experts.

Elders blog Graça Machel, 11 October 2012

When we empower girls, everybody benefits

"Girls have no status, no protection and no prospects in many families and communities – and this is simply the way things are. Inequality is so entrenched that it isn’t even questioned."

In a blog for DFID (the UK Department for International Development) on the inaugural International Day of the Girl, Graça Machel welcomes the focus on child marriage as an entry point to achieving universal education, health and economic development worldwide. She argues that only by ending child marriage can we empower girls and women – to the benefit of everyone in society.