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Find out moreCommonwealth leaders take historic first step to end child marriage
31-October-2011
Girls in class in Sierra Leone.
Child rights campaigners have welcomed a commitment by the 54 leaders of the Commonwealth to focus on efforts to end the early and forced marriage of millions of girls around the Commonwealth.
Gathered at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, the leaders' communiqué has committed to improving gender equality and the empowerment of women in the Commonwealth by, among other things:
- Implementing international instruments and agreements on women's rights.
- Promoting the implementation of measures to tackle early and forced marriage.
Ian Wishart, Plan's chief executive, said the Commonwealth leaders' decision to focus on the issue of early and forced marriage would significantly boost global efforts to protect millions of girls from being coaxed and coerced into marriage.
"The decision to focus on ending early and forced marriage sends a strong signal to government authorities and communities across the Commonwealth that the early marriage of girls – often against their will and best interests - is no longer a practice to be tolerated," he said.
"The Commonwealth must now deliver on its commitment to improve gender equality by implementing practical actions that can end the practice of early and forced marriage and transform the lives of the millions of girls throughout the Commonwealth."
Peter Kellner, Chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society, welcomed the commitment from the Commonwealth's leaders to do more for the millions of girls forced into marriage.
"This proves that Commonwealth leaders are capable of acting together to advance human rights," he said. "The test now is whether the Commonwealth can deliver on this commitment and the many other urgent human rights issues across the association with the reforms that have been announced."
During the week of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting many influential leaders expressed their desire to see an end to the practice of forced, early marriages, including Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, Foreign Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and Malcolm Fraser, Former Prime Minister of Australia.
The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, had also been pushing at CHOGM for forced marriage to be a human rights issue on which Commonwealth leaders would agree action.
Plan International and the Royal Commonwealth Society have been campaigning on the issue of early and forced marriage as a key human rights violation that could be dramatically reduced if the Commonwealth’s member states were willing to take concrete action.
"One in seven girls in the world’s poorest nations are married before they turn 15. When they are married, they invariably have to leave school, robbing them of the opportunity of a better life," said Mr Wishart.
"Today's resolution by Commonwealth leaders will have a hugely positive impact on the life opportunities of literally millions of girls around the world who will otherwise be trapped in a cycle of poverty, ill-health, illiteracy and abuse."
As part of their push for action on the issue, the organisations released a CHOGM briefing paper called: Empowering Girls: what the Commonwealth can do to end early and forced marriage.
The paper highlights that early and forced marriage is one of the greatest ongoing barriers to girls’ education, maternal health and economic empowerment.
- Plan has been focusing on the needs and wellbeing of girls in the developing world through its ongoing State of the World’s Girls reports, published annually since 2007. The next edition of the report, titled 'So, what about boys?', will be launched in Canberra, on Wednesday, November 2.
- The Royal Commonwealth Society has engaged in discussion and debate regarding Commonwealth reform, which gained momentum after the publication of 'The Commonwealth Conversation', the largest global public consultation on the future of the Commonwealth. It has been named as a contributor to the creation of the Eminent Persons Group and this most recent push for urgent Commonwealth reform.
Notes to editors
Download a copy of Empowering Girls: what the Commonwealth can do to end early and forced marriage
In March 2011, Plan and the Royal Commonwealth Society released a report called: Because You’re a Girl: Growing up in the Commonwealth. The report highlights the many barriers still faced by girls and women across the Commonwealth to participating fully in social, political and economic life.
Plan UK recently released an extensive report on early and forced marriage called Breaking Vows: Early and Forced Marriage and Girls’ Education.
For more information or to speak to Ian Wishart from Plan, or Peter Kellner from the Royal Commonwealth Society, contact:
David Cook
Media Officer
Plan International Australia
Mobile: 0448 816 900
Email: david.cook@plan.org.au
Ashley Johnson
Communications Assistant
Royal Commonwealth Society
Mobile: 0426 891 262
Email: ashley.johnson@thercs.org