Statement by RELI Africa on the International Day of the Girl 2026: End Child Marriage and Invest more to protect the rights of Girls.

Child marriage remains one of the most consequential violations of girls’ rights. It can interrupt education, constrain economic opportunity, expose girls to gender-based violence, early pregnancy and other reproductive health related challenges, and narrow the life choices available to them. Yet ending child marriage requires more than preventing the moment of marriage. It requires changing the conditions that make child marriage appear necessary, acceptable or inevitable.