Changes from R21 to R21

• Child marriage undermines children’s human rights and traumatises their lives and derails any future opportunities and prospects

• Child brides are more likely to become pregnant and experience complications, and this is reported to be the leading cause of death among adolescent girls

• Child brides are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections including HIV

Child Marriage

Global Greens Congress 2023 ■ Seoul, South Korea

Resolution Submission from the Global Greens Women's Network

• Child brides have not had the opportunity to access education and social support

Proposed by:

• Reporting criminality is critical and convicting perpetrators of child marriage is integral for children’s safety and protection.

This Resolution is proposed by the Global Greens Women Network:

• Alison Lam (Canada) & Helen Ryan-Sykes (Australia)

• Bodil Valero (Sweden)

• Pefi Kingi (APGF Executive; APGF Pacific Greens Network)

Acknowledging People:

In consultation with Greens key stakeholders:

• IDC- Coordinator, International Development Committee (IDC)
  • *Michelle Sheather

• GGWN Steering Committee,
  • *Alison Lam *Antia Nautiyal *Carla Piranda *

Disclosing that:

• The catalyst for this submission was generated by the Statement prepared by Alison Lam, Helen Ryan-Sykes, and Bodil Valero of the Global Greens Women's Network. Pefi Kingi from the Asia-Pacific Greens Federation.

• We duly acknowledge the foundation premises discussed and developed by other thought leadership groups resulting in key documents that we have adopted/amended appropriate to this submission.

Recalling that:

United Nations 2020

All relevant international instruments, that is, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, the Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and other relevant human rights instruments and, the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages.

Two of the most broadly endorsed human rights agreements in the world, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), prohibit child marriage. Together, these treaties have been signed or ratified by almost every country. Yet around the world, national or local laws enable different interpretations of this agreed principle.

We recall also that the SDGs also state clearly the elimination of unsafe practices imposed on children/female girls; that is, SDG 5.3 Eliminate forced marriages and genital mutilation; and Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female mutilation.

Many countries permit child marriage to take place with parental consent or under religious or customary law, for example around the world many marriages are not legally registered. Even in places where child marriage is illegal, enforcement is lax.

We also note that in global terms, the Swedish UN Association estimated that 12 million young girls are married every year, that is 32 800 every day. In the world today there are 765 million marriages with children; and Unicef denotes that 115 million boys have married before 18. This data is extremely disconcerting, even as we focus on child brides.

It is affordable to outlaw Child marriage worldwide. The joint study from Johns Hopkins University, Victoria University, University of Washington and Avenir Health assessed the price tag to end child marriage in 68 countries would cost $35 billion averaging at $600 to avert a child marriage.

Recommending that:

Social protection, education, adequate health care, psychosocial support, nutrition, full access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, skills development and the combating of discrimination and violence against girls are in place, as these considerations are all necessary for the empowerment of the girl child.

Member parties, Green groups and non-profit organizations in the field resource assistance to refugees on child marriage.

Collaboration, development and implementation of strategies and policies at national, regional and international levels so as to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage, as well as to support psychosocial aftercare to those who were married as children.

Easier access for people to report criminality so that this will lead to convicting perpetrators, as even families offer their children for child marriages.

Concluding that:

Child early and forced marriage is a harmful practice that violates, abuses or impairs human rights and is linked to the perpetuation of other harmful practices and human rights violations and that such violations have a disproportionately negative impact on women and girls. The prevention and elimination of the harmful practices and human rights violations must be prioritised as this underscores the human rights obligations and commitments that States have, that is, to promote and protect their human rights obligations and commitments regarding the promotion and protection of human rights and the fundamental freedoms of women and girls and, to prevent and eliminate the practice of child forced marriage.