Every year, millions of girls around the world are married before the age of 18. Child marriage and unions are forms of gender-based violence that hold girls back from education and risk their rights, health, safety and autonomy. We want to see a world where girls live free from child marriage and have opportunities and agency to achieve their dreams.

Every girl has power. But it’s only when girls are free to make choices about their own lives and bodies that they can access that power and create their own futures. Girls Not Brides are taking this message forward with its global campaign, Power to Girls, calling on decision-makers around the world to make a bold commitment to end child marriage. Join our global rallying cry as Girls Not Brides and our member organisations call for urgent action, so girls are the ones deciding if, when and who to marry.

Info sheet on the Power to Girls campaign

Campaign grants on child marriage and girls’ education

As part of Girls Not Brides’ EOL-funded project, a number of organisations in West and Central Africa have been selected to receive small grants to carry out campaigns linked to Girls Not Brides’ Power to Girls campaign. In West and Central Africa, child marriage is a key factor limiting girls’ access to continued education and, in many cases, forces girls to drop out of school. This is the issue that Girls Not Brides and its partners on the Education Out Loud project aims to address as part of the campaign. Read more about the activities which will be conducted by the partner organisations as part of the Power to Girls campaign below.

Association Nigérienne des Éducateurs pour le Développement (ONG/ANED), Niger

This youth-led campaign will raise awareness about the issue of child marriage and the importance of girls’ education. It will take place at national level and locally in the department of Tibiri. Activities include:

• The translation and dissemination of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and a presidential decree on girls’ education.
• Dissemination on TV and cell phones.
• Local caravan and workshop.
• Awareness raising with students and parents.

Association pour la Protection de l’Enfant et de la Famille en Détresse (APEFD), Mali

This local organisation will partner with a regional youth network to carry out a campaign to raise awareness about child marriage and girls’ education. Activities include:

• An advocacy event.
• An awareness raising procession.
• Social media campaign working with youth bloggers, social media, radio and TV.

Réseau des Jeunes pour la Promotion de l’Abandon des Mutilations Génitales Féminines et les Mariages d’Enfants (RJPA-MGF-ME), Senegal

This national youth network will work with schools and other actors to carry out its campaign to end child marriage. Activities include:

• School tour campaign on focusing on the importance of education to as a lever to end child marriage.
• Intergenerational dialogue.
• Booklet and film on child marriage.
• Social media challenge.
• Capacity building of champions for gender transformative work.

These organisations will be using their campaigns to highlight the importance of education in supporting girls to use their power and realise their potential.

Together we will show decision-makers the urgency behind this issue and call on them to act now. We need to remove barriers to girls’ freedom and agency by protecting them from child marriage and ensure their right to continued education. Find out more about the campaign and make your own campaign commitment here. On the campaign website you will find a Power to Girls toolkit with guidance and advice on how to run campaign actions, along with a set of campaign resources, messaging, templates and social media assets.