Addressing Child, Early, and Forced Marriage and Unions
Description
Child, Early, and Forced Marriage and Unions (CEFM) is a human-rights violation and an impediment to sustainable global development. This initiative aims to help partners implement programs to prevent and reduce this harmful practice.
Detailed Descriptions of Resources
The goal of the change envisioned in this document is to contribute to a more gender-equal world in which all individuals, particularly girls, women, and children of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics are equitably valued and empowered.
The learning agenda prioritizes the following questions:
- What can prevent child, early, and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU) in under-studied countries and contexts?
- How can CEFMU interventions promote girls' agency and opportunities?
- What can prevent child and forced marriage in crisis and conflict settings?
- How can interventions tackle the taboo of sexuality as a key driver of CEFMU?
- What role can civil society—including youth-led, women's rights, and grassroots organizations—play in supporting the most marginalized and underserved girls, ending CEFMU, and holding governments accountable?
- What are the needs of currently married girls, and how can they best be met?
- What are the needs of girls whose marriages have ended, and how can they best be met?
- What is the experience of married boys and of children of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and sex characteristics?
- How do changes in societies, including laws and politics, affect CEFMU and broader issues related to adolescent sexuality?
The implementation plan outlines a plan for USAID to leverage its investments with governments, funders, implementing partners, and women- and girl-led organizations across the globe to strategically invest in gender-transformative, context-specific, evidence-based, sector-specific, and cross-sectoral programming and research. It further outlines a plan for USAID to contribute to answering the most pressing questions about child, early, and forced marriage and unions, meeting the needs of married adolescents and ultimately ending the practice.
This document is meant to be used alongside the child, early, and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU) theory of change, CEFMU learning agenda, and CEFMU implementation plan. Indicators described include the following:
- Number of legal instruments drafted, proposed, or adopted with U.S. government assistance designed to promote gender equality or non-discrimination against women or girls at the national or subnational level;
- Proportion of female participants in U.S. government-assisted programs designed to increase access to productive economic resources;
- Percentage of participants reporting increased agreement with the concept that males and females should have equal access to social, economic, and political resources and opportunities; and
- Number of legal instruments drafted, proposed, or adopted with U.S. government assistance designed to improve prevention of or response to sexual and gender-based violence at the national or subnational level.
