11 October 2025 – Today, we celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child and its 2025 theme "The Girl I Am, The Change I Lead – Girls at the Frontlines of Crisis," we honor the incredible strength, resilience, and hope of every girl — especially those living in communities torn by conflict, crisis, and displacement.
In the Middle East and North Africa, girls face unique challenges that threaten their health, safety, livelihoods, and dreams. One of the most pressing issues is child marriage, which often occurs quietly but has devastating consequences. As a result, preventing and responding to child marriage is often a life-saving intervention for many girls in the region.
UNICEF defines child marriage as a union where at least one person is under 18 and hasn’t fully or freely chosen their path. Despite laws and efforts to stop it, over 650 million women and girls worldwide, including more than 40 million in the Middle East and North Africa, have been affected. In humanitarian settings, this problem often goes hidden, making it even harder to address.
These girls’ lives are interrupted by early pregnancies, limited access to education, and loss of voice and independence. Yet, even in the toughest circumstances, they show extraordinary courage. Many are leading change — speaking out at community gatherings, participating in awareness activities, and dreaming of a different future. They remind us that they are not just survivors, but also leaders capable of shaping their own destinies.
We also need to ensure that no girl is left behind, particularly girls living with disabilities. Their experiences and needs are different but equally important. Raising awareness through engaging activities like theater and community dialogues makes a real difference, helping everyone understand that girls’ dreams matter and that their right to choose when and whom to marry is fundamental.
Supporting girls means more than just keeping them safe; it’s about giving them the tools to thrive. Education, vocational training, and economic opportunities are vital to help girls realize their potential and resist harmful practices, such as child marriage. And when communities, religious leaders, parents, men, and boys see girls as valuable contributors rather than problems, true change begins. Engaging parents, leaders, health professionals, school teachers, and administrators as allies helps shift mindsets and build environments where girls’ voices are heard and respected.
Every girl’s future depends on our actions today. Across the Middle East and North Africa region, we must support, protect, and empower girls until they are ready to make their own decisions about life. Investing in their dreams is an investment in a better, stronger world for all of us. Centering girls and their communities is crucial in designing programmes that acknowledge and address the life-saving nature of child marriage prevention and response, as is better monitoring and evaluation, accountability for outcomes, and efforts to mitigate the normative and operational barriers that arise in humanitarian settings.
On this International Day of the Girl Child, let’s recognize the courageous girls fighting to be heard and to lead the change in crisis and conflict-affected communities. More importantly, let’s commit ourselves to working together, so that every girl in the Middle East and North Africa, and beyond, can grow up safe, strong, and full of hope. The girls we empower today will lead the world of tomorrow.
About the RAF: The Regional Action Forum to End Child Marriage (RAF) is a coalition of more than 45 UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs, CSOs, WROs, and academic partners, brought together by the common goal of ending child marriage in Arab states and the wider MENA region. Visit our website at www.rafmena.org for more information.
Casablanca, 25 May 2024 – From May 22 to 24, 14 RAF INGO, NGO, UN, and academic members took part in the
Amman, 30 April 2024 – In April 2024, RAF completed a desk review on the impact of child marriage on chil
