What: The first substantive Human Rights Council resolution on child, early and forced marriage is expected to be adopted imminently
When: By COB Thursday 3 July 2015
Where: Geneva, The United Nations Human Rights Council
Why it matters: Child marriage holds back 15 million girls a year, denying them fundamental rights and undermining their future. This resolution is key to ensuring that we speed up progress towards ending child marriage. If there is no reduction in child marriage, 1.2 billion girls will marry as children by 2050.
The United Nations is expected to adopt the first substantive Human Rights Council resolution on child, early and forced marriage by Thursday 3 July, COB. The resolution was introduced and led by Sierra Leone and Italy, and has received cross regional support.
The draft resolution recognises child marriage as a violation of human rights “that prevents individuals from living their lives free from all forms of violence” and that has “wide ranging and adverse consequences on the enjoyment of human rights, such as the right to education, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, including sexual and reproductive health”. It also recognises child marriage as a “barrier to sustainable development” that “helps to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.
The resolution is also likely to request that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) organises an expert workshop in 2017 to “review and discuss the impact of existing strategies and initiatives to address child, early and forced marriages and make recommendations for further action by States and the international community”.
The resolution comes at a timely moment, just a few months before States adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an ambitious framework that could transform the world by 2030. The proposed framework includes target 5.3, “Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilations”, under goal 5, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”.
For available spokespeople please contact Maryam Mohsin, Girls Not Brides Communications Officer:
Tel: +44 20 3725 5867 / +44 7436 095 435 Email: Maryam.mohsin@GirlsNotBrides.org
@GirlsNotBrides
[ENDS]
Maryam Mohsin|Communications Officer
Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
Brook Green, First Floor, Building 5, 50 Brook Green, London W6 7BJ, UK
T: +44 20 3725 5867 | M: +44 7436 095 435 | Skype: maryam.mohsin
www.GirlsNotBrides.org | Twitter: @GirlsNotBrides | www.Facebook.com/GirlsNotBrides
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