Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Ms. Diene Keita on the International Day of the Girl (11 October)

Every girl has dreams for her future - a future full of promise, shaped by her own vision, talents and choices. But for too many, child marriage cuts that future short. It ends her childhood and narrows the choices open to her as an adult.

Families and communities feel the effects too. Child marriage exposes millions of girls to serious health, social and economic risks, and gender-based violence. It is also linked to lower labour force participation, costing countries hundreds of billions of dollars every year.

For decades, committed efforts by UNFPA and partners, working alongside communities, have slowed the pace of child marriage. Yet a girl is still married somewhere in the world every 3 seconds. In the time it takes to read this, 40 more girls will be married.

Child marriage is often rooted in long-standing traditions, economic hardship and parents' genuine wish to protect their daughters. Lasting change comes not from judgement, but from listening to and working with families, communities, and religious and traditional leaders, many of whom are already choosing a different path for their girls.

Child marriage has many consequences, including girls leaving school early and becoming mothers before they are ready: Of all the girls who become mothers while still children themselves, a majority were married as children.

As children and adolescents, girls' minds and bodies are still developing, and they face serious risks to their health and well-being if they become pregnant. Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death for girls aged 15-19.

On this International Day of the Girl, UNFPA joins the global call to end child marriage and invest in girls' rights and potential. Every girl should be able to make her own choices about the course her life will take.

Change is possible, because we know what works to end child marriage. We need to do more of it, with and for adolescent girls everywhere. In the last 10 years alone, the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage has supported over 40 million girls at risk or already married, helping them stay in school, access health services and make informed choices.

Ending child marriage is a target all countries have agreed to under the Sustainable Development Goals, and the urgency is greater than ever. Investing in prevention is among the most effective things we can do, but funding cuts and multiplying crises are putting more girls at risk. Progress as it stands must accelerate by at least 20 times by 2030, which means not just calling for an end to child marriage but actively and adequately investing in what stops it.

Today, we call on governments, communities and partners to invest, at scale and over time, so that every girl goes to school; every girl receives quality sexual and reproductive healthcare; and every girl enters adulthood empowered as an agent of her own future. Together, let us stand with every girl and make sure her voice is heard, her choices are respected and her rights are upheld, everywhere.