A/73/257
I. Introduction
1.
General Assembly resolution 71/175 of 17 November 2016 on child, early and
forced marriage took note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary -General
(A/71/253) and requested the Secretary-General to submit a comprehensive report on
progress towards ending child, early and forced marriage worldwide, before the end
of its seventy-second session.
2.
A note verbale was sent on 22 September 2017, requesting information from
Member States and other stakeholders. As at 15 March 2018, 24 responses had been
received from Member States, 1 10 from national human rights institutions, 2 and 12
from United Nations bodies and civil society organizations. 3 The present report is
based on these submissions, available in full on the website of the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 4
3.
The prevalence of child marriage is decreasing globally, according to available
data, with the proportion of women who were married as children ha ving decreased
by 15 per cent in the past decade. 5 According to the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), the total number of girls married in childhood is estimated at 12 million
a year. Progress in the last decade has resulted in an accumulated global reduction of
25 million fewer child marriages than would have been anticipated at all levels a
decade ago. 6 Despite this global trend, the prevalence rates of child marriage, early
union and adolescent pregnancy remain high, particularly in some regions.
4.
Overall, during the reporting period, from June 2016 to May 2018, there has
been increasing attention and action to eliminate child, early and forced marriage.
However, gaps still remain both in legal and policy frameworks and in ensuring the
sustainability of efforts to end the practice.
II. Developments at the international and regional levels
5.
Since the international community agreed on the Sustainable Development
Goals, including Goal 5.3 on the elimination of harmful practices such as child , early
and forced marriage, increasing attention to this issue has been paid at the
international and regional levels by mechanisms to end child, early and forced
marriage, resulting in important political commitments and normative, policy and
programmatic guidance.
6.
In its resolution on the girl child, 7 the General Assembly explicitly acknowledged
the severe impact of child, early and forced marriages on girls ’ enjoyment of their
__________________
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
18-12406
Member States include Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Burundi, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, France,
Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Mauritius, Mexico, Honduras, Oman, Uganda, Switzerland, Turkey,
Slovenia, Spain, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, the United States of America and Zambia.
National human rights institutions from the following countries submitted information : Armenia,
Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Colombia, France, Jordan, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Serbia
and Sri Lanka.
Aide Rapide aux Victimes des Catastrophes-Democratic Republic of the Congo, Asia Pacific
Alliance, Association nationale de la promotion et protection des droits de l’homme, Centre for
Reproductive Rights, Girls Not Brides, Journalists and Writers Foundation, Plan International,
Save the Children, Save the Children and Oxfam Mexico, Youth Association for Development,
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/Documentation.aspx.
See E/2017/66 and UNICEF, “25 million child marriages prevented in last decade due to
accelerated progress, according to new UNICEF estimates ”, press release, 6 March 2018.
Available at www.unicef.org/eca/press-releases/25-million-child-marriages-prevented.
UNICEF, “25 million child marriages prevented”.
General Assembly resolution 72/154.
3/17