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Child marriage, defined as marriage before the age of 18, is a global issue that affects approximately 650 million young women and girls across continents and cultures. In the U.S. over 200,000 children under the age of 18 were married between 2000 and 2015.

The UN75 Consultation on Child Marriage will discuss the issues around this human rights violation against children and young girls, as well as actions that can be taken to accelerate progress in the elimination of child marriage.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for global action to eliminate poverty, to protect our basic human rights to health, education, and security by 2030. Target 5.3 specifically calls for the elimination of the harmful practice of child marriage. Failure to act on this SDG, will compromise the 2030 agenda of gender equality, economic growth, and peace and security.