Global Recognition for Campaign Against Child Marriage, Uttarakhand Steps Up Fight

UN declares November 27 an international day; organisations intensify campaign across four Uttarakhand districts

Dehradun, September 6. India’s campaign against child marriage has received significant international recognition, with the United Nations declaring November 27 as the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage. Organisations associated with Just Rights for Children (JRC) in Uttarakhand have welcomed the decision, describing it as an important step towards strengthening the global movement against child marriage.
In Uttarakhand, JRC-associated organisations — Samarpan in Dehradun, Aparajita in Haridwar, ISD in Udham Singh Nagar and Arpan in Almora — are carrying out grassroots campaigns against child marriage. Their activities include awareness programmes in schools, villages and panchayats, along with efforts to reach vulnerable families and children at risk.
JRC’s Uttarakhand State Coordinator Gajendra Nautiyal said at a programme organised on Teachers’ Day that a movement which began with a voice from India had now evolved into a global commitment. He said the selection of November 27 for the international observance also holds special significance for India, as the Government of India had launched the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat, or Child Marriage-Free India campaign, on November 27, 2024.
Nautiyal said the international recognition had increased the responsibility of organisations working on the ground. The real challenge now, he said, was to convert the global commitment into measurable results at the community level.
According to him, child marriage cannot be eliminated through legislation alone and requires sustained social awareness and community participation. As part of the campaign, awareness programmes are being organised in schools, panchayats and villages, while people are being encouraged to take pledges against child marriage.
Efforts are also being made to link economically vulnerable families at risk of child marriage with government welfare schemes. Children who have dropped out of school are being encouraged and assisted to return to education.
The initiative for a dedicated international day against child marriage was taken by JRC founder Bhuvan Ribhu. During an address at the United Nations in March 2026, Ribhu once again called for the declaration of an international day dedicated to ending child marriage.
Among those present during the initiative was Sierra Leone’s First Lady Dr Fatima Maada Bio, along with several international representatives. Sierra Leone subsequently moved a proposal in the United Nations General Assembly, backed by India and 67 other countries, seeking the designation of November 27 as an international day dedicated to eliminating child, early and forced marriage.
According to the document, the United Nations adopted the proposal on September 4.
JRC has been working to build a global movement against child marriage under its Child Marriage Free World campaign. The organisation says its partners are working in coordination with government agencies across 782 districts in India.
The campaign involves communities, schools, panchayats, tribal and marginalised groups, women, police personnel, religious leaders and elected representatives. JRC claims that these collective efforts have helped prevent more than 550,000 child marriages across the country and that millions of people have taken pledges against the practice.
Citing National Family Health Survey data, the document states that the proportion of women aged 20 to 24 who were married before the age of 18 stood at 23.3 per cent in NFHS-5 (2019-21) and was reported at 20.1 per cent in NFHS-6 (2023-24).
The Central Government has set a target of reducing the prevalence of child marriage by 10 per cent by 2026. The broader global commitment to end child marriage by 2030 is also linked to Target 5.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5, which calls for the elimination of harmful practices, including child, early and forced marriage.