UN Human Rights Council 62: UK General Comment on the draft resolution on child, early and forced marriage

Thank you, Mr President,

Child, early and forced marriage is a harmful practice and a form of gender-based violence. The UK supports efforts to tackle the root causes of the practice, including discriminatory social norms, gender inequality and violence against women and girls.

It is in this context, that we thank the core group and in particular Switzerland, the pen holder, for their efforts to bring this resolution forward. The UK joined the previous request for the OHCHR to develop guidelines to prevent and redress child, early and forced marriage and we thus wholeheartedly support the core group's request to implement these guidelines.

The core group held an open, transparent and lengthy process to take into consideration a broad set of views. We welcome this approach and congratulate them for delivering a strong text which focuses on impact. Indeed, education, empowerment and the promotion of the rights, agency and autonomy of women and girls remain central to preventing and ending child, early and forced marriage.

We regret that several amendments have been tabled with the aim of challenging key agreed human rights language on comprehensive sexuality education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, bodily autonomy, and violence. These concepts are firmly grounded in existing international commitments. Attempts to replace or redefine this language risk undermining the resolution's objective and weakening protections for women and girls.

Mr President,

The UK has co-sponsored this draft resolution. We urge all members of the Council to join us in fully supporting without reservation this initiative and to reject the amendments which have been tabled.

Thank you.