A childhood should be about school, friends and figuring out what comes next, not being pushed into marriage. For millions of children, however, that choice is still taken away. Now, a campaign that began in India to keep children out of marriage has gained global recognition, with the United Nations declaring November 27 as the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage.
The change is also visible in Telangana. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), conducted in 2019-21, 23.5% of women aged 20-24 in the state were married before the age of 18. The figure fell to 17.9% in NFHS-6 (2023-24), below the national average of 20.1%. At the grassroots level, Just Rights for Children (JRC), a child protection network working to prevent child marriage, noted that its partner organisations have helped prevent 21,472 child marriages across 30 districts in Telangana over the past three years.
What started on the ground in India is now becoming a global movement. JRC’s partner organisations work with governments and law enforcement agencies across 782 districts, bringing schools, panchayats, women, faith leaders, police, political representatives and local communities into the fight against child marriage. The wider campaign has helped prevent more than 5,50,000 child marriages in India, according to JRC.
The movement did not stop at India’s borders. It inspired Child Marriage Free Nepal, launched in December 2024, and has since reached more than 99 countries, with over 250 million people pledging their support. Between December 2025 and March 2026, JRC took the campaign a step further with a 100-day Child Marriage Free World campaign, calling on governments across 100 countries and schools to strengthen efforts to end child marriage.
Bhuwan Ribhu, founder of Just Rights for Children, took the campaign’s call for a dedicated global day to the United Nations. In March 2026, he renewed the demand at the UN in the presence of leaders including Dr Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone, backed by 67 countries including India, later presented the resolution to the UN General Assembly.
November 27 is now marked on the global calendar, after the UN adopted the resolution on September 4, 2026. Dr Fatima Maada Bio also recognised JRC’s work during the UN session, while Ribhu attended the adoption as the only civil society representative with the UN delegation. What started with children and communities in India has now grown into a global movement, with more than 25 crore people pledging their support when the Government of India launched Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat on November 27, 2024.
The focus now shifts from recognition to action. Ribhu has called on governments around the world to use the new international day to push towards ending child marriage by 2030, while ensuring children have access to education, protection and opportunities to shape their own futures.
For a generation growing up with more choices and a louder voice, the message is simple: childhood should lead to a future of their choice, not a marriage decided for them.
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