India's Blueprint to End Child Marriage: How Just Rights for Children's Model is Transforming Global Action at UNGA

New Delhi: A significant global initiative to eradicate child marriage was launched during a high-level side event at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 25. The event was spearheaded by Bhuwan Ribhu, Child Rights Activist and Founder of Just Rights for Children (JRC).

JRC coordinated this UNGA side event in collaboration with the Office of H.E. Dr. Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone and President of OAFLAD, alongside the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone and the Government of Kenya. Additional partners included the World Jurist Association and Jurists for Children Worldwide, all uniting to develop a comprehensive strategy toward a world free from child marriage.

During the event, Ribhu presented India's approach as an exemplary model for global replication. He emphasized the significance of the UNGA platform as a global decision-making body that enables nations to make political and legal commitments to eliminate child marriage by 2030, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 5.3. Ribhu stressed that law enforcement is crucial, as awareness campaigns alone prove insufficient without strong prosecution to deter potential offenders.

Currently operating in India, Nepal, Kenya, and the US, JRC is establishing the world's largest civil society organization dedicated to advancing child protection through legal reform, community engagement, and survivor-led initiatives.

The organization implements a 3Ps model: Prevention before protection, protection before prosecution, and prosecution to create deterrence. This strategy is executed through JRC's comprehensive PICKET framework, addressing policy, institutions, capacity-building, knowledge, economics, and technology to create an ecosystem where legal enforcement and social action function harmoniously.

The 'Tipping Point to Zero: Evidence Towards a Child Marriage Free India' report by the Centre for Legal Action and Behaviour Change (C-LAB), a JRC partner, reveals remarkable progress. In the past three years, child marriage rates in India have decreased by 69 percent for girls and 72 percent for boys. Several states demonstrated outstanding improvements: Assam (84 percent decline), Maharashtra and Bihar (70 percent each), Rajasthan (66 percent), and Karnataka (55 percent). The government's Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign reached an impressive 99 percent awareness among survey respondents.

Just Rights for Children's achievements include preventing over 400,000 child marriages, rescuing more than 109,000 children from trafficking and forced labor, filing over 74,000 cases against traffickers, supporting 32,000 survivors of sexual abuse, and reducing the national prevalence of child marriage from 24 percent to 15 percent. These outcomes demonstrate how coordinated legal enforcement combined with grassroots mobilization generates lasting change.

The UNGA side event highlighted survivor voices shaping global policy, emphasizing the importance of lived experience in developing effective strategies. JRC engaged in continuous dialogues with survivors before and during UNGA to ensure their leadership in global advocacy. Co-hosting countries Sierra Leone and Kenya presented their successful child protection initiatives, reinforcing that multi-country collaboration is fundamental to eradicating child marriage.

Bhuwan Ribhu emphasized that the rule of law is central to ending child marriage. He clarified that deterrence isn't about harsher punishments but ensuring consistent accountability. Ribhu noted that arrests and formal case registrations have transformed social perceptions of child marriage from an accepted practice to a punishable offense. The commitment of over 300,000 faith leaders pledging not to sanction child marriages demonstrates the essential role of cultural influencers in prevention efforts.

Building on India's success, JRC launched the Child Marriage Free World initiative at the General Assembly, advocating for worldwide adoption of India's blueprint. This initiative reframes child marriage as child rape, calling for legal reform and community action rooted in survivor leadership to ensure justice globally. As Ribhu warned, "While we speak, 1,800 girls globally are forced into marriage daily. The world must follow India's example: the proof is here, the model works."

With support provided to over 500,000 children and systematic interventions preventing approximately 18 child marriages per hour, India exemplifies how collective determination, legal enforcement, and partnership can overcome deeply entrenched social challenges. The global community is urged to replicate this success and join the movement for a child marriage free world before 2030. As Ribhu stated, "Together, in this generation, we will create a world just for our children, free from child marriage and abuse."