Your Excellency the first lady, Ministers, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I am happy to be here and to have the opportunity to talk briefly about the issue of child marriages in front of an audience that has the capacity to turn commitment into action - and change the life for the girls and boys of Mali.

Ending child marriage is a goal we must achieve. And I believe together, we can.

We know that Child, Early and Forced marriage has enormous negative consequences for the girl in question and for society as a whole.

We know that child marriage is a global problem that cuts across countries, cultures, religions and ethnicities. 

We are seeing a growing number of global and regional commitments and national strategies. And we have a Human Rights Framework and a growing number of countries have adopted a legal framework that makes child marriage illegal.

And we know that ending child marriage can play an important role in alleviating poverty and in promoting economic development.

And we know it can improve health at the individual and population levels. 

And we know girls are powerful agents of change.

There is no one cause of child marriage globally and therefore no ‘one’ solution.  The evidence suggests that a combination of strategies, designed to fit the local context, will likely be the most successful. 

Evidence suggests that increasing girls’ education is probably one of the most effective ways to avoid child marriage. We know there is a strong link between early marriage and the end of formal schooling for a young girl.

According to the findings of the World Bank; Girls who complete secondary education tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labour market, earn more, marry later, have fewer children and provide better health care and education for the next generation. These factors combined help to lift households, communities, and nations out of poverty.

It is good to see that efforts to reduce the prevalence of child marriages in Mali are having some effect.

The ambition must be to amplify this tendency of reduction in prevalence rates.

The commitment of your Excellency, The First Lady, to such issues and to improving the lives of Malian girls and boys is instrumental to building a momentum for real and sustainable change.

Together, we can achieve remarkable transformation. When a community  - be it; global, regional, national, or local - stands unified in deciding that certain practices no longer correspond to its deeper values of health, peace, well-being, and respect — and stands unified in deciding to end these practices — this is the mark of true and sustainable development.

Together – let’s make child marriage a thing of the past.

Thank you.