What is Girls Not Brides?

Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of over 100 organisations working to end child marriage all over the world. Together, we aim to give a voice to girls at risk of child marriage, to defend their rights to health and education, and to give them the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential.

We also aim to support children who are or have been victims of child marriage, to increase awareness of the scale and impact of child marriage, and to mobilise the support and resources needed to end child marriage.

We believe that our members can be more effective working together than working alone. Our partnership will maximise our collective impact by pooling efforts and resources, energies and experience.

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Who are the members?

Girls Not Brides is made up of non-governmental organisations working all over the world to end child marriage, support child brides and raise the profile of this neglected problem. We are building our partnership and we welcome new members. For information on how to become a member, please contact us at info@GirlsNotBrides.org.

Find out more about our members.

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Why build a partnership to end child marriage?

Child marriage has received too little attention for too long. At times, people have been reluctant to speak out against child marriage, mostly because of its links to sensitive issues of tradition and culture. As a result, some of the world’s most vulnerable young people have been neglected.

By building Girls Not Brides, we hope to empower the activists and organisations that work to end child marriage in their communities by enabling them to share best practice and to work together to raise awareness of the importance of ending child marriage.

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What will Girls Not Brides do?

Ending child marriage requires action at the local, national and global levels. At the local level, Girls Not Brides members will empower girls and raise awareness of the harmful impact of child marriage among families and communities. At the national and international levels, we want to convince leaders and policymakers to give this issue urgent attention, putting in place effective laws, generating the political will to tackle child marriage, and dedicating the resources needed to drive change.

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How does Girls Not Brides work?

Members of Girls Not Brides are encouraged to participate in working groups that examine key internal issues for the partnership such as strategy, advocacy and communications.

Members are invited to organise national or regional partnerships as appropriate to further the work and objectives of Girls Not Brides in their region.

Girls Not Brides is not a funding mechanism. The activities of its members are financed by their own means.

The work of Girls Not Brides is facilitated by a small support team which will be based initially at The Elders Foundation in London.

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How was Girls Not Brides created?

In 2010, The Elders, an independent group of eminent global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007, www.theElders.org began reaching out to organisations all over the world to forge a global civil society partnership to end child marriage.

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How is Girls Not Brides supported?

Our donors’ support funds a small Secretariat for the partnership, to undertake communications work and to enable members to stay in contact.

The Elders

The Elders is an independent group of global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela working for peace and human rights.
www.theElders.org

Ford Foundation

The Ford Foundation works with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide.
www.fordfoundation.org

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.
www.macfound.org

Nike Foundation

Nike Foundation is a non-profit organisation supported by NIKE, Inc., that is dedicated to investing in adolescent girls as the most powerful force for change in the developing world.

NoVo Foundation

The NoVo Foundation’s mission is to foster a transformation in global society from a culture of domination and exploitation to one of equality and partnership. NoVo’s initiatives include: Ending Violence Against Girls and Women; Empowering Adolescent Girls; and Advancing Social and Emotional Learning.
www.novofoundation.org

Open Society Foundations

The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. The Foundations place a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities.
www.soros.org