Child, early and forced marriage A/RES/79/158 Reaffirming that marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, and further stressing that this consent must be informed, Recognizing that the eradication of poverty, the elimination of hunger, social protection, access to quality early childhood, primary and secondary education, employability skills, livelihood support and economic empowerment, in a safe environment, with a strong social work system, meaningful participation and inclusion in decision-making, universal access to affordable, quality and inclusive healthcare services, nutrition, full access to clean water, including safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, menstrual health and hygiene and affordable and accessible menstrual products, skills development and the combating of all forms of discrimination and violence, among other things, are all necessary for the empowerment of the girl child, contributing to preventing, addressing and eliminating child, early and forced marriage and supporting already married, divorced, separated, or widowed girls and women, Expressing concern that despite the recent progress made globally towards ending child, early and forced marriage, including a decrease to 19 per cent in the proportion of girls who were married before the age of 18 in the past decade, progress has been uneven across regions, both between and within countries, and that existing data show that, at the current pace of progress, target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which involves ending the practice by 2030, will not be met in any region of the world, and recognizing that urgent local, national, regiona l and international action, including the allocation of adequate financing, is required to accelerate progress to eliminate child, early and forced marriage, Recognizing that chronic poverty remains one of the biggest obstacles to meeting the needs and promoting and protecting the rights of the child, including the girl child, and that girls living in poverty, including those living in rural and remote areas, are more likely to experience harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, and recognizing also that the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions is critical to realizing the rights of girls and must remain a high priority for the international community, Noting with concern the effects that humanitarian emergencies, armed conflict, natural disasters, such as floods and droughts, and the persistent effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic are having on the hard-won gains achieved on ending harmful practices, including child, early and forced marriage, and which may further compromise the ability of Member States to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including target 5.3, by 2030, Noting that the current pace of change is not sufficient to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030, where, in addition to the 12 million child, early and forced marriages that occur every year, the effects of the COVID -19 pandemic are projected to result in up to 10 million additional cases of child, early and forced marriage that otherwise would have been averted between 2020 and 2030, and noting also that even further increases may result from the impacts of natural disasters, the adverse impacts of climate change, humanitarian emergencies and armed conflicts, with girls from poor households, rural and remote areas, those living in conflict affected areas, humanitarian situations and those who have dropped out of formal education particularly at risk, Recognizing that global health threats, climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, more frequent and intense natural disasters, armed conflicts, violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism, and related humanitarian emergencies and the forced displacement of people have particularly negative impacts on women and girls, including those with disabilities, while 24-24151 3/15