This brief shares the personal stories of four Syrian refugee girls—Serine, Ream, Nadine, and Sarah—who were married as children after fleeing the war in Syria and seeking refuge in Lebanon. Through these accounts, the report highlights the realities faced by displaced girls at risk of child marriage.
The International Day of the Girl, established in 2012 and celebrated every October 11, marks a global commitment to advancing gender equality and spotlighting the challenges girls face, with child marriage as the focus of its inaugural theme. Despite early progress and global pledges, child marriage remains a critical issue—exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, conflict, and economic hardship—threatening millions more girls worldwide.
The climate crisis is making girls’ lives even harder. It destroys homes and livelihoods, driving children and their families further into poverty. And when families are forced to cut corners, it’s girls who tend to lose out. Despite being at the centre of the storm, girls are frequently left out of climate decision-making processes.
As fragile states struggle to provide essential services like healthcare, education, and protection, girls face disproportionate risks. Girls face the dual threat of child marriage and fragility, as conflict, climate change, and economic instability increase their vulnerability to early marriage and rights violation
Join us on May 7th at 14:00 (GMT+3) for an exciting discussion on informal child marriages with RAF members working in Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt.
The objectives of this webinar are twofold:
Child Marriage is a well-recognized global phenomenon, which may disproportionately impact girls in humanitarian crisis and displacement, such as armed conflict or nature disaster.1 The consequences of such marriages are dire. We know that girls who are married young in humanitarian contexts face poorer educational outcomes, serious physical and sexual violence, poor mental and physical health outcomes, and complications or even death in childbirth. Most importantly, it is a violation of girls’ full rights as children.
An overview of UNFPA’s approach to cash and voucher assistance in humanitarian settings throughout the Arab Region and Türkiye.
This large, multi-method piece of research was undertaken in partnership with the University of Bedfordshire (UK), with lead researcher Dr. Aisha Hutchinson who has worked on the project with Tdh from 2016 -2020.
Child marriage is rooted in gendered social norms and unequal relationships between women and men. It is made worse by poverty, low levels of education, and social and economic insecurity.
Child marriage is a violation of human rights. Every child in the Middle East and North Africa has the right to be protected from this harmful practice, which has devastating consequences for girls and for society. Child marriage is now firmly on the global development agenda, most prominently through its inclusion in Sustainable Development Goal target 5.3, to eliminate the practice by 2030.
The world is home to 650 million child brides including currently married girls and women who were first married in childhood.