Girls not Brides

www.girlsnotbrides.org

Child marriage &the post-2015 development framework

Social media toolkit for Girls Not Brides members and partners

What: At the 59^th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), government officials, UN representatives, and civil society organisations will discuss challenges and opportunities for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

When: 9-20 March

Why: CSW offers an opportunity to urge those ministers attending to speak out in support of target to end child, early and forced marriage in the post-2015 development framework.

Hashtags: #CSW59 #endchildmarriage #post2015

Suggested messages:

Ending child, early and forced marriage must be a global priority:

1. Over 700 million women alive today were married as children. That?s nearly 10% of the world?s population. #CSW59 #endchildmarriage
2. 15 million girls a year are married before 18. Ignored in the #MDGs, their voices must be included in #post2015 framework. #CSW59
3. #Endchildmarriage is key to empower women & girls + achieve #genderequality. It must be included in #post2015. #CSW59
4. How can countries prosper if 1/2 of the population is left behind? #Endchildmarriage is key to a more prosperous & equal future #CSW59

What will it take to end child marriage?

1. Including a target to end child, early & forced marriage in #post2015 will help drive change for girls worldwide for years to come #CSW59
2. To #endchildmarriage, we need to empower girls, mobilise communities, provide services, establish strong laws & policies. #CSW59
3. To?#endchildmarriage, gov?ts need to set laws & policies that support girls + invest in services to empower girls & communities?#CSW59
4. Ending #childmarriage won?t happen overnight. We need long-term investments into programmes that work & can be scaled up. #CSW59
5. Effective interventions to?#endchildmarriage?must be comprehensive. Here?s what it could look like:? #CSW59

Impact of child marriage:

1. #Childmarriage traps girls, their families & communities into a cycle of inter-generational poverty #CSW59
2. Too often, #childmarriage marks the end of a girl?s education #endchildmarriage #CSW59
3. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience violence in marriage than girls who marry later #CSW59
4. #Childmarriage not only puts girls? lives at risk: it endangers the lives of their future children too #CSW59
5. Girls who give birth before 15 are 5 times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their early 20s #CSW59
6. Due to lack of knowledge & power in marriage, #childbrides are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. #CSW59

Resources: We have created a folder where you can download resources on child marriage, including infographics, toolkits and social media messages: .