Today, as we observe the International Day of the Girl, the global community is called to face an undeniable truth: girls are being forced into early marriage at an alarming rate. The United Nations states that over 12 million young girls are married annually worldwide-about one every three seconds-with the highest prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa at 31%. UNICEF's 2026 estimates show that one in five girls is married before age 18, representing approximately 650 million women and girls alive today who were married in childhood.
There is no simple solution to ending child marriage. For a girl, it can mean exchanging a classroom for responsibilities she is not ready to carry, cutting short her education and narrowing her choices. Poverty, pressure to preserve family honour, unequal power between girls and men, and interpretations of religious doctrine that justify early marriage can all contribute. When families struggle to put food on the table, marriage may appear to offer security — but a girl's future should never be the price of survival.
At Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Zimbabwe, we believe girls must have space to lead these discussions and help shape the decisions that affect their lives. Through our Youth Empowerment: Safeguarding the Future (YouSafe) project in Bindura District, implemented with funding support from the Oak Foundation, we are tackling the gender inequality, violence, and economic exclusion that prevent girls from realising their full potential and participating meaningfully in social, political, and economic life.
YouSafe places vulnerable youth at the core of its approach. The project is reaching 1,500 young people with sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) education and drug and substance abuse prevention, while equipping 300 diverse youths-50% female, including youth with disabilities-with green entrepreneurship and life skills. Girls are organised into Youth Livelihood Empowerment Groups (y-LEGs), where they access business training, mentorship, savings and loans through a revolving fund administered by FBC Bank, and certified green skills training accredited by Bindura University of Science Education. Two Climate Adaptation Centres showcase climate-smart livelihoods, building girls' resilience against the droughts and economic shocks that push families toward desperate choices.
Crucially, YouSafe works directly at community level-engaging parents, traditional and religious leaders and groups of men and boys as advocates for gender equality. By creating space for the needs and voices of adolescent girls to be heard, the project supports them to make informed choices about their health, education, and futures. Girls' agency remains at the heart of the project, alongside efforts to encourage positive change across families, communities, and institutions.
As we celebrate progress this International Day of the Girl, we remember that changing long-standing cultural practices is challenging-but that should not stop us from confronting the societal pressures that drive early marriage. Together with communities, government ministries, and partners like the Oak Foundation, we continue to create inclusive societies where girls can thrive, lead, and contribute positively as equal members, not as lesser beings.
Because when a girl is empowered, a whole community rises with her.