Plan Launches Campaign to Eradicate Child Marriage in Commemoration of International Women's Day

In Commemoration of International Women's Day on March 8, Youth Activists from 30 Countries Unite to Announce the 'Youth Manifesto'


Advocating for Girls' Right to Self-Determination in Line with the 2026 UN Theme: 'Rights. Justice. Action.'

International relief and development NGO Plan International (hereafter referred to as Plan) will launch the global campaign '#WeObject' to eradicate child marriage in commemoration of International Women's Day on March 8, 2026. The campaign has been organized to align with this year's official United Nations International Women's Day theme: 'Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls.' Plan International aims to amplify the voices of young people worldwide in order to dismantle gender-discriminatory laws, insufficient legal protections, and harmful social norms that perpetuate child and forced marriages.

The core driving force behind this campaign is the 'Global Youth Influencer Group (GYIG),' consisting of 30 young activists from 30 countries. This group has directly authored the 'Youth Manifesto.' Through the manifesto, the youth emphatically declare that marriage should be a choice made in freedom and love, not an obligation or a decision imposed by others. They oppose the infringement of girls' rights under the guise of tradition and insist that silence serves only to protect injustice. In particular, they resist the reality where girls must become wives before they even realize who they are, and pledge to challenge harmful systems that value marriage over education and obedience over ambition.

Currently, 12 million girls around the world are married before the age of 18 every year, which means that every three seconds, a girl is forced into child marriage. Child marriage is not merely a personal tragedy; it leads to girls dropping out of school, exposes them to the risk of violence, and results in devastating physical and mental health outcomes. It also limits girls' independence, deprives them of the right to make critical life decisions such as when to have children, and robs them of the opportunity to experience girlhood and reach their full potential. Plan calls for global solidarity to break down these barriers and ensure that every girl can choose her own future.

In line with the UN's International Women's Day theme, 'Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls,' Plan is focusing on dismantling discriminatory laws and social norms that violate girls' rights. To this end, Plan urges governments and communities in each country to increase investment in programs that address the social inequalities driving child marriage. The organization also supports married girls and those at risk of child marriage in protecting their rights and accessing essential services. In particular, Plan strongly calls for tailored support and the establishment of just legal systems for marginalized girls in conflict zones and areas of extreme poverty.

Details of the #WeObject campaign and the full text of the Youth Manifesto are available on the Plan website. Videos featuring the real voices of young activists from around the world will also be released.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.