In this advocacy brief, UNICEF and Karama emphasize the importance of addressing gender-specific impacts in climate action, particularly focusing on girls, who face heightened vulnerabilities due to climate change.
Brief exploring the evidence behind the WHO recommendation to remove gender-based barriers and ensure girls' completion of 12 years of quality education. Includes implications for policy and programmatic work and research, and practical tools to support implementation of such interventions.
This review, authored by Anju Malhotra, Ph.D., and Shatha Elnakib, M.P.H., examines evaluations from 2000 to 2019 to identify effective approaches for preventing child marriage in low- and middle-income countries. It found that interventions supporting girls' education through cash or in-kind transfers were the most successful, with 8 out of 10 medium-high quality studies showing positive outcomes. Additionally, favorable job markets and targeted life skills and livelihoods training consistently produced positive results.
Children make up nearly half of the Syrian refugee population, and child protection is a central focus of UNHCR's response. UNHCR has launched research projects to assess how different cash assistance programs contribute to child protection outcomes and improve the well-being of refugee children and households. In 2018, UNHCR distributed over US$ 230 million in cash assistance across the MENA region, reaching one million individuals.
Save the Children warns that girls in the Middle East and North Africa are at heightened risk of being sold or forced into "tourist" or "pleasure" marriages due to the combined effects of poverty, displacement, and the COVID-19 pandemic. These temporary marriages, often involving young girls and older men, are exacerbated by loopholes in child marriage laws in countries like Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, and Iraq. Such marriages expose girls to exploitation, violence, and long-term harm to their education and safety.
RAF's annual report for 2024 covers all of our achievements related to technical webinars, research, advocacy and coordination efforts for child marriage prevention in the region.
Child marriage is rooted in gender inequality, discriminatory institutions, as well as social norms, and a lack of opportunities for adolescent girls and their families. During humanitarian crises, these drivers are often exacerbated, usually increasing the prevalence of child marriage.
In April 2024, RAF completed a desk review on the impact of child marriage on children living with disabilities in the MENA region.
The desk review study demonstrates that marriage among children with disabilities is present in contexts where child marriage is practiced in MENA. This must be acknowledged and brought into RAF members’ current work on policy, advocacy, and programming to prevent child marriage in the region.
In April 2024, RAF completed a desk review on the impact of child marriage on children living with disabilities in the MENA region.
The desk review study demonstrates that marriage among children with disabilities is present in contexts where child marriage is practiced in MENA. This must be acknowledged and brought into RAF members’ current work on policy, advocacy, and programming to prevent child marriage in the region.
As we wrap up 2023, RAF has put together a thematic brief based on learnings stemming from engagement with members and colleagues in the humanitarian and academic fields this past year.
The brief highlights key opportunities to address child marriage in the MENA region, including:
1. Investing in girls’ leadership;
2. Including girls in climate action;