INDIA

COUNTRY PROFILE
2022

© UNICEF/UN0825674/Das
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 2

india
Other states
FIGURE 1: Percentage of women and union territories

aged 20 to 24 years who were first Chhattisgarh Uttar Pradesh

married or in union before age 18. Assam

Odisha

Jharkhand

Telangana
Five states account for over half of the
girls and women in India who married Tamil
Bihar
in childhood: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Nadu
Bengal, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Gujarat

Karnataka

West
Andhra Bengal
Pradesh

Rajastan
Maharashtra
Note: This map is stylized and not to scale. It does Madhya
not reflect a position by UNFPA or UNICEF Pradesh
on the le gal status of any country or area
or the delimitation of any frontiers.

The global context Global advocacy and dialogue

Child marriage threatens the lives, the well-being In 2022, the international community made
and the futures of girls around the world. Globally, key commitments to end child marriage at global
the prevalence of child marriage has declined and regional forums. On 15 November 2022,
by around 15 per cent since 2010. Nevertheless, the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee
COVID-19, climate change and conflict have resolution on child, early and forced marriage, 1 led by
had lasting effects on poverty, school dropout Zambia and Canada, was adopted by consensus.
and inequality, triggering increases in child A total of 125 Member States sponsored the resolution
marriage. UNICEF estimates that the COVID-19 (compared to 114 co-sponsors the last time
pandemic alone will have put more than 10 million the resolution was put forward in 2020). Countries
additional girls at risk of child marriage by 2030. which sponsored the resolution for the first time
included: Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Ending child marriage is a global priority: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius, Nepal
93 governments have signed up to Sustainable and Sri Lanka. Several of the countries have a high
Development Goal (SDG) target 5.3 to end child, early prevalence of child marriage — and, by sponsoring,
and forced marriage, and 43 countries either have, demonstrated their political commitment to ending
or are working on, national action plans to end child it. The resolution highlights the urgent need
marriage. Girls’ education is a consistent protective to reach the poorest and most marginalized girls
factor against child marriage, with child marriage rates and women—while calling upon the international
among girls who complete secondary school 66 per community to increase its efforts to end child,
cent lower than among girls with no education, and 80 early and forced marriage. It recognizes how global
per cent lower among those who complete higher health threats, climate change, conflicts and forced
education. COVID-19 increased the number of school displacement can have a particularly negative
dropouts, thereby increasing the risk that girls who are impact on women and girls and which, by extension,
out of school will not return. Girls who drop out of can also increase child, early and forced marriage.
school are significantly more likely marry early, and 87 The resolution appreciates the UNFPA-UNICEF
per cent of married adolescent girls are out of school. Global Programme to End Child Marriage and other

1 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-seventh Session, Third Committee agenda item 64(a) (A/C.3/77/L.19/Rev.1)
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 3

similar global, regional, and national initiatives,

encouraging coordinated and comprehensive
approaches across sectors and at all levels.

In March 2022, the Global Programme and partners

led a high-level side-event at the sixty-sixth session
of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW),
a session which culminated in the CSW66 Agreed
Conclusions, calling for action to achieve gender
equality and the empowerment of all women
and girls in the context of policies and programmes
on climate change, and environmental and disaster-
risk reduction. This session, “No Time to Lose:
Child Marriage and the Triple Crisis”, enabled © UNICEF/UN0777268/Vishwanathan

United Nations Member States and other

stakeholders to improve their collective understanding
More than

3.7 MILLION
of the effects of the triple crisis on child marriage,
and what could be done in response.

boys and men were engaged

in dialogues that address harmful
masculinities and promote positive
gender norms.
Key highlights in 2022

Nearly 476 service delivery points

6 MILLION
girls actively participated in life-skills
were strengthened to provide rights-
based adolescent-friendly health
services (including sexual and repro-
and comprehensive sexuality ductive health), 1,200 medical officers
education (CSE) interventions. were trained to provide adoles-
cent-friendly health services and 317
policewomen were trained on child
More than rights and child protection, including

84,000 adolescent
girls at risk of child marriage were
information on addressing child
marriage.

384
supported to enrol and/or remain in
school through the programme’s
intensive outreach mobilization of new partnerships (287
out-of-school adolescents. formal and 97 informal) were estab-
lished to deliver adolescent-respon-
sive social protection, and poverty
Nearly reduction and economic empower-

80 MILLION
community members have been
ment programmes and services.

equipped with information and

galvanized to act against child
marriage and promote adolescent
181 district action plans to
end child marriage are approved for
empowerment. implementation in 10 states.
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 4

Child marriage country context Overall programme performance

Nearly one in four young women (23 per cent) in India TABLE 1: Summary of output indicator
were married or in union before their eighteenth performance (2022)
birthday. Child marriage is becoming less common,
but the country still accounts for one in three
of the world’s child brides, due to its population Providing intensive support
size. The prevalence of child marriage varies across to marginalized girls
states and union territories in India. At least 40 per
cent of young women were married before turning
18 in West Bengal, Bihar and Tripura, compared Overall, more than 5.6 million adolescent girls
to 1 per cent in Lakshadweep. Girls who live were reached by UNFPA and UNICEF in 2022 with
in rural areas or come from poorer households comprehensive programmes on life-skills, gender
are at greater risk of getting married in childhood, and child protection. The increase in uptake of life-skills
and a higher proportion of child brides are found education, compared to previous years, is attributed
among those with little or no education. to the schools reopening after COVID-19 restrictions

Indicator Target Result

Indicator 1111: Number of adolescent girls (aged 10–19) who actively participated
4,746,395 5,603,377
in life-skills or CSE interventions in programme areas
Indicator 1121: Number of girls (aged 10–19) supported by the programme to enrol
375,000 84,090
and/or remain in primary or secondary school
Indicator 1211: Number of boys and men actively participating in group education/
1,000,000 3,735,249
dialogues that address harmful masculinities and gender norms
Indicator 1221: Number of individuals (boys, girls, women and men) who participate
in group education/dialogue sessions on consequences of and alternatives to child 9,993,000 13,320,308
marriage, the rights of adolescent girls and gender equality
Indicator 1222: Number of individuals (boys, girls, women and men) reached by mass
media (traditional and social media) messaging on child marriage, the rights of adolescent 28,320,000 79,385,255
girls and gender equality
Indicator 1223: Number of local actors (e.g., traditional, religious and community leaders)
117,745 776,580
with meaningful participation in dialogues and consensus-building to end child marriage
Indicator 1231: Number of CSOs newly mobilized in support of challenging social norms
95 65
and promoting gender equality by the Global Programme (cumulative)
Indicator 2121: Number of primary/secondary/non-formal schools in programme areas
NA NA
providing quality gender-friendly education that meets minimum standards
Indicator 2131: Number of service delivery points in programme areas providing quality
adolescent-responsive services (health, child protection/ gender-based violence) that meet 460 476
minimum standards
Indicator 2211: Number of partnerships (both formal and informal) established to deliver
adolescent-responsive social protection, poverty reduction and economic empowerment 66 384
programmes and services
Indicator 3111: Number of policies or legal instruments addressing child marriage drafted,
proposed or adopted at national and subnational level with Global Programme support 59 58
(cumulative)
Indicator 3121: Number of subnational plans with evidence informed interventions
21 20
to address child marriage
Indicator 3211: Number of generated evidence and knowledge that focus on what works
21 22
to end child marriage (cumulative)
Indicator 3212: Number of generated evidence and knowledge that apply a gender analysis
3 0
(cumulative)
Indicator 3221: Number of south-to-south cooperation events (conferences, expert visits,
1 0
peer consultations, study tours, communities of practice) supported
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 5

were lifted and the multisectoral adolescent tools for the elementary and secondary school levels
empowerment approaches implemented through in Hindi, Gujarati and Assamese languages. UNFPA
Government flagship schemes and platforms. These and UNICEF particularly wanted to reach vulnerable
include training, employment-related opportunities adolescent girls in remote and tribal districts with poor
and referral mechanisms via youth platforms Internet penetration and where teachers and students
and forums like Advika Udaan. The programme have no smart phones. Consequently, they supported
also helped 84,090 out-of-school adolescent girls Odisha State to integrate life-skills into outreach
to continue their education. However, this is below programmes and to contact more girls from remote
the set target due to increased school dropouts, communities through innovative strategies such as ‘call
especially in hard-to-reach communities where a student’ and ‘alternate learning platforms’. Short films
adolescent girls are forced to drop out of school due to and multimedia digital packages in local languages
lack of transportation and safe routes to school. were developed and disseminated for wider reach
among parents, teachers and community leaders.
The programme in India used contextualized
approaches to reach adolescents and their families UNICEF continued to support 10 state governments
in hard-to-reach areas and marginalized communities to implement a comprehensive school safety
through the use of innovative platforms and methods programme to provide safe and protective learning
to offer programmes on life-skills, child protection, environments for adolescent girls. In states like
and other services. It works with self-help groups, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar
women’s organizations, and grass roots groups like Pradesh, girls who have been absent for 10 days
Aanganwadi Workers (AWWs), which helped reach or more are contacted by the School Education
these communities, identify adolescents and children Departments which have identified those who are
at risk, and linked them with social protection married, likely to be married or who have migrated
schemes. Adolescent empowerment programming and are at risk of child marriage or other forms
has strengthened convergence across sectors and links of exploitation. Schools which were initially
with schemes resulting in an effective response. resistant to report dropouts are now documenting
UNICEF supported the integration of life-skills into this information to prevent child marriage
the school curriculum framework in five states, as part of the district action plans. In Uttar Pradesh,
in addition to developing life-skills measurement through attendance monitoring of adolescent girls

© UNICEF/UNI435189/Kolari
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 6

by school management committees and community transformative life-skills. The state’s School Education
influencers and counsellors, 27,618 adolescent girls Department, as part of the child marriage reduction
who were either out of school or going irregularly programme, exempted admission and examination
were given support to enrol, or stay, at school. fees for adolescent girls to enrol into open school
programmes. The Women and Child Welfare
In Odisha, more than 1 million adolescents across Department women groups and panchayats
25 districts have been reached through ADVIKA, are supporting adolescent girls with enrolment into
a state initiative supported by UNICEF and UNFPA. second-chance education programmes alongside
This provides life-skills training and information enrolling younger girls directly into formal education.
on child rights, child marriage, violence against
children, gender, sexual and reproductive health, In Gujarat, a package on financial and digital literacy
and on how to access the child helpline. Sessions was integrated in the cash plus scheme, enhancing
are held every Saturday in more than 72,000 the life-skills and knowledge of 254,136 adolescent
Anganwadi Centres (community-based childcare girls. In Kutch district the re-enrolment and retention
institutions) across Odisha. UNICEF and UNFPA, of 965 adolescent girls, who had dropped out of
in partnership with Yuwaah, also launched the Advika school, were supported through collaboration with
App with the Odisha Government to link adolescents the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation, ensuring
to life-skills and career readiness information. Some the girls’ safety on the way to and from school.
5 million girls at risk of child marriage have also
been linked to social protection schemes preventing In Madhya Pradesh, a pool of 313 master trainers
such marriages and to support their education. on life-skills education was created and six life-skills
The Advika App also helps front-line workers provide education comic books were developed with a focus
targeted life-skills education for adolescents. on self-esteem and positive body image. As a result,
357,782 girls’ knowledge and skills were enhanced
UNFPA, in partnership with the Department through sessions on child rights and protection
for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Odisha, risks, gender and life-skills education. The master
also supported 1,150 tribal residential schools across trainers also trained teachers who then conducted
30 districts to reach 146,498 marginalized adolescent sessions in schools on gender stereotyping,
girls, building their knowledge, skills and attitudes appearance ideals and being a champion, reaching
for leading healthy lives and addressing vulnerabilities 81,000 girls. In addition, 12,919 out-of-school
such as child marriage and teenage pregnancy. children were identified and re-enrolled in schools
Principals of all the schools, in addition to nearly as part of the ‘School Chalo Abhiyan’ partnership
600 officials from districts and smaller administrative campaign led by the Education Department.
units (blocks), were also trained on reviewing
the implementation of life-skills education programmes
and the availability of life-skills education teaching Challenges, lessons learned and next steps
and learning materials in schools. UNFPA supported
the review of a curriculum for special schools, including The lingering effects of COVID-19 continued to disrupt
training 124 heads of special schools of Odisha on the programme implementation. In 2022, UNFPA
importance of life-skills education for adolescents had planned to initiate life-skills education sessions
with disabilities, particularly on issues involving in special schools supported by the Department
their sexual and reproductive health. UNICEF also of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with
provided educational assistance to 60,686 vulnerable Disabilities in Odisha. However, reopening schools
adolescent girls in Odisha to enrol, and stay, in school. took much longer than anticipated, and Government
approvals to roll out the curriculum were delayed.
In Andhra Pradesh, UNICEF conducted surveys
to identify out-of-school adolescent girls in all districts. UNICEF has developed a contextualized curriculum
The most vulnerable were supported to establish and interventions for adolescent girls and their
weekly peer groups at village level to raise awareness families in remote tribal districts in states such
on their rights and to provide life-skills education, as Jharkhand and Odisha. However, lack of Internet
protection and empowerment. In total, 150,000 access, and poor transport, plus fears for the safety
out-of-school adolescent girls were reached with of the girls enroute to schools pose a challenge.
training and services through panchayats (village Several front-line workers (including Anganwadi
and small-town councils), women’s groups and front- workers and teachers) in these remote areas
line workers. School-based programmes reached cannot access online materials and therefore lack
a further 200,000 adolescent girls with gender- the necessary skills to interact with adolescents in a
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 7

The Global Programme and partners will prioritize:

• greater use of approaches which recognize

gender identities, disability status and caste
• scaling up strengthened, targeted
interventions to better support married girls
• introducing a life-skills education lab allowing
adolescents to experience different settings
in replicated environments, led and managed
by adolescents from tribal and caste areas
• providing technical assistance
to state governments to roll
out life-skills education for young people
with disabilities in government-
supported special schools in Odisha
• connecting with the Rajasthan state
government to scale up virtual
demonstration and learning sites to reach
the most vulnerable girls through Kasturba
© UNICEF/UNI416314/Kaur Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas
• integrating state schemes for adolescent
empowerment programmes under
the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme
sensitive and informative manner. Second-chance so that they are implemented in all
education programmes are also affected by the 33 districts across the state
increased absenteeism of adolescent girls. Use of • implementing a robust management
volunteers from, and in, the hard-to-reach tribal information system to track life-skills
communities has shown good results of engagement education programmes in Rajasthan
with adolescents and their families. However, these • developing and implementing a tool
approaches need to be strengthened, using both to measure the impact of these, including
physical and digital methods, to reach the most documenting best practices, innovations,
marginalized girls. The content of life-skills lessons baseline findings and case studies
for sharing with stakeholders to ensure
should not only be age-appropriate and girl-sensitive
the system can be scaled up
but should also be supplemented with materials
tailored to the specific needs, and sociocultural context • strengthening links with women’s
of tribal adolescents and adolescents with disabilities. empowerment initiatives to help girls
to transition from school to employment.

Government-funded programmes related

to adolescents and youth empowerment,
such as Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram Enhancing the family
(RKSK), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and community environment
and the National Social Service (NSS), are vital
in reaching adolescents, but these are often planned
and implemented in isolation. A cohesive approach UNFPA and UNICEF supported the integration
with proportionate funding is necessary. This of interventions to end child marriage in the work
would require advocacy and support to state with panchayats to scale up community engagement
governments from the Global Programme. and awareness-raising to ensure villages are child-
friendly and promote women’s rights. More than 3.7
Women self-help groups and youth groups play million boys and men took part in dialogues addressing
a critical role in monitoring their communities harmful masculinities and promoting positive gender
for cases of child marriage that have resulted from norms. This was almost four times the target due to
economic distress because of COVID-19, and after blended approaches to achieving this, including
extreme weather events. Financial loan systems the use of digital platforms and adolescent clubs.
and other social protection services, offered The use of multiple community platforms, including
through the self-help groups, help to ensure that digital platforms, enabled the programme to engage
girls do not drop out of school and college. more than 13 million parents, front-line workers,
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 8

community and faith-based leaders, adolescents UNFPA and UNICEF enabled diverse voices
and local governance representatives on ending child to contribute to a nuanced strengthening of media
marriage and promoting girls’ rights. Close to 80 and public discourse on child marriage, focusing
million people were reached through traditional on causes such as poverty, and related issues
and social media platforms, including television of consent, adolescent autonomy. UNICEF’s
and radio shows, mobile van campaigns, the ‘Mere partnerships with the media, such as community
Sapane’ (My Dreams) national essay competition, radio stations, local newspapers and TV stations,
the #EqualRightsEqualValue social media campaign has enabled it to reach millions of people through
and the International Day of Girl Child campaign. the production and broadcast of key messages, plays
In 2022, a total of 65 women-led and youth-led and community engagement programmes. In Madhya
organizations were mobilized to help challenge social Pradesh, UNFPA launched a unique ‘Digital Sathi’
norms and promote gender equality. The programme initiative to help girls become digital storytellers
also mobilized a total of 865 self-help groups (financial and empower them to use social media to voice
intermediary community committees comprising their needs and aspirations, while simultaneously
of 12 to 25 local women between the ages of 18 ensuring their safety, security and privacy online –
and 50), some through social media outreach. so far 80 girls have participated in the initiative.

UNFPA and UNICEF also supported community Lastly, the programme supported the analysis
groups, women-led and youth-led organizations, of the programmatic approaches related to gender-
including feminist organizations and those working transformative change using the GTA tool. In addition
with men and boys such as Breakthrough, Point to analysing the level of ownership of strategies
of View, CHSJ and Partners for Law in Development, and their contributions to accelerate change,
to engage adolescents and community members the gender-transformative assessment made it possible
in marginalized communities in dialogues and raise to develop a road map to accelerate progress.
their awareness on preventing child marriage
and gender-based violence (GBV). UNICEF support
for Breakthrough led to the development and roll Strengthening gender-transformative harmful
out of a gender-transformative toolkit for adolescents practices programming in India
and communities, designed and contextualized
for tribal and marginalized communities in Odisha, The India programme carried out the GTA over
Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. In Madhya Pradesh, three days with the full engagement of sectoral
UNFPA led the design and development of a module experts and staff from selected states. Prior
(‘Ujjwal’) to engage with boys and girls in schools to the actual GTA process, the lead focal points
to promote positive masculinity – it clarifies from the UNICEF country office participated
key concepts and provides practical suggestions in two pre-call meetings to clarify
to motivate non-discriminatory behaviours the methodology of the tool and expectations;
and practices at home, in society and at school. and to discuss themes to be prioritized.

© UNICEF/UN0853111/Magray
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 9

The workshop focused on identifying opportunities

for shared action among coalition members
nationally. Because the GTA process is meant
to incorporate gender-transformative elements
into existing workplans, the gender advocates
and other key stakeholders were asked to identify
crucial areas within their existing workplan where
gender-transformative approaches can have © UNICEF/UN0751764/Spiridonova
an immediate, and potentially amplified, impact.

Based on the discussion around current strategies

and programme content in India using the ‘gender Sociocultural contexts also influence strategies
equity continuum’ and the contextualized theory for engagement with men and boys in different
of change across the socioecological framework, regions. Many stakeholders, especially men, hold
several priority actions emerged. These action areas deeply entrenched patriarchal beliefs. In addition,
are broadly categorized under three groups: working with traditional and faith-based leaders
is highly sensitive in nature and requires intensive
• programme approach, content and messaging engagement with organizations that are expert
in working with these groups. These influential
• programme strategies and design
community leaders are often gatekeepers of traditional
• measurement and learning. norms and it therefore requires consistent engagement
to ensure they do not encourage child marriages
Five action priority areas that have greater potential or restrict the development of adolescent girls.
to address and dismantle power and resource hierarchy
structures that subjugate girls in most contexts were Mobilizing adolescent boys and men and enabling
identified for the gender-transformative process: them to become change-makers is a powerful move
towards girls’ empowerment. However, platforms
• to review (with partners) capacity- and programmes to reach men and boys are not
building curriculum content, yet adequate to support this. Engaging with boys
methodologies and measurements and men requires continuous activities, monitoring
for gender-transformative elements and adaptation due to cultural norms. Also, adopting
(content, methodology and approach) good quality gender-transformative approaches
• strategy and action plan development require intensive and concentrated work with feminist
for integrating work on masculinities organizations and youth-led organizations.
and engaging men and boys (programme
strategies and design) Competing priorities with Government departments
• adolescent groups for life-skills delayed the implementation of capacity-building
and employment opportunities (programme and the roll out of dedicated modules on positive
strategies and design) masculinities. At community level, seasonal labour
• carry out a gender analysis of institutional migration and agricultural work in some states resulted
partners working with men and in fewer men participating in activities. School dropouts
develop a plan for moving them along on account of migration also poses challenges
the continuum to gender-transformative in sustaining engagement with youth leaders.
(measurement and learning)
• gender-transformative results framework Social and behaviour change interventions targeting
– Quality assurance and tracking issues, community members should cover the links across
support for measurement strategies
different harmful practices including child marriage,
(measurement and learning).
sex-selective abortion and GBV to provide more
holistic and comprehensive protection for girls.
There needs to be a balance between large-scale
Challenges, lessons learned and next steps and community-led interventions. Challenging social
norms and influencing the public discourse needs
Working on positive masculinities requires technical sustained work with communities. The introduction
expertise, is resource intensive and is not easily of tools for audience-friendly communication such
replicable without initial investments in capacity- as storytelling have been seen to be effective
building; hence, scaling-up is a challenge. in making social and behaviour changes.
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 10

The Global Programme and partners will prioritize: services. UNFPA support in providing rights-based
adolescent-friendly health services (including sexual
• interventions at community level in priority and reproductive health), led to the improvement
districts with adolescent girls and boys, of a total of 476 service delivery points.
families and community members, to address
GBV and challenge gender norms UNFPA also supported the training of 1,200 medical
• creating awareness with police officers in the provision of adolescent-friendly health
of schemes and helpline numbers services and information – and this led to the creation
for adolescents and community of a group of state level master trainers to improve
members and on ‘The Prohibition the abilities of district and block level medical
of Child Marriage Act’ (this has already officers in providing adolescent-friendly and gender-
been effective and can be scaled up)
responsive services. The medical officers were also
• engaging with collectives among trained on issues such as mental health, cybersecurity
the adivasi (tribal) and dalit (scheduled and given a deeper understanding of disabilities.
castes) for self-determined approaches
In Rajasthan, UNFPA supported the development
to elimination of child marriage, GBV and
and roll out of a comprehensive resource package
harmful practices in Odisha state
to conduct Health and Wellness Days in school
• dialogues with faith-based leaders and the and community settings. This incorporates
participatory development of culturally
11 themes of the two national flagship programmes
appropriate information on gender equality
and the rights of adolescent girls (RKSK and SHWP) promoting adolescent health
under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• strengthening and leveraging existing
The resource pack equips front-line service providers
structures, led by women and young
to advocate for adolescents’ health and well-being.
people, activated under various government
programmes and schemes. Around 370,000 adolescents accessed adolescent
health services at Ujala Clinics (adolescent-friendly
health clinics) in 12 RKSK-targeted districts.

Strengthening systems UNICEF supported the Government in the

implementation and adaptation of the flagship
programme of ‘Save the girl child, educate the girl

“ I see every day, with my own eyes,

how bad the practice of child marriage
is. It is still very difficult in districts
child’. In Maharashtra, 317 women police trainees were
trained on child rights and child protection, including
child marriage. CHILDLINE representatives of 36
like Hingoli to go to people and talk districts were oriented on child marriage and their
about child marriage. I enrolled as soon role in enhancing prevention and response to GBV
as I heard the news of an opportunity by UNICEF. Some 195 Child Welfare Committee
to conduct sessions in schools. All of members were trained on the Juvenile Justice
us volunteers were trained very well. Act and procedures under the Act for children
I joined the parents’ session and, while in need of care and protection, including girls
talking to the parents, I realized that whose marriages have been stopped. Further,
many problems that lead to child 1,121 health department workers including ASHA
marriage can be reduced if basic workers, block coordinators, LHVs and medical
facilities reach the villages.” officers were trained to respond to GBV, including
child marriage. This has resulted in initiating
— Ms. Vaishali Dhage, an accredited social health outreach programmes with adolescent girls.
activist (ASHA) front-line worker and parent
session volunteer, Audha Taluka, Hingoli

Challenges, lessons learned and next steps

UNFPA and UNICEF support UNICEF and UNFPA have led the support to develop,
for girls’ welfare encouraged Government- design and disseminate national guidelines
led action and communication on ending child for strengthening national flagship schemes aimed
marriage, addressing school dropout and promoting at addressing child marriage and promoting girls’
access to gender-friendly services. This has also rights, including capacity-building initiatives
led to a more cohesive approach between ministries for service providers at all levels. The advocacy
towards delivering truly gender-transformative efforts by both agencies have resulted in a state-
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 11

wide scale-up of promising initiatives that support Building partnerships

girls’ empowerment and improves their access
to services. However, there are still not enough Different Government departments and agencies,
service providers to deliver adolescent-friendly such as the Department of Women and Child
and gender-responsive services, and there Development, the Education Department and the
is also a lack of these services for adolescent girls Social Welfare Department at state and district
who are pregnant or who already have children. levels have remained crucial partners to the Global
Programme. These partnerships have led to the roll
Implementation of the School Health Programme out of interventions for the prevention of child marriage
has been uneven across districts and schools, and child abuse and for adolescent empowerment.
stemming from a lack of coordination among Institutional partnerships with key ministries, such
involved Government departments. Where as the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, were of critical
the programme has been implemented, it has importance in laying the foundation for making SDGs
been difficult to track its progress as management local goals, especially Goal 5 (to achieve gender
information systems are still under development. equality and end harmful practices against women
and girls, including child, early and forced marriage).
UNICEF and UNFPA will prioritize:
In 2022, 354 new partnerships (287 formal and 97
• supporting evidence generation at state- informal) were established to deliver adolescent-
level and district-level on the prevailing responsive social protection, poverty reduction
rates of child marriage to influence and economic empowerment programmes
Government directives and policies and services. Partnerships with CSOs and their
• development training tools networks helped reach adolescents and community
and modules on gender-responsive members in marginalized communities to raise their
service provision, including support awareness issues such as girls’ empowerment and child
for the training of service providers protection, including GBV, child marriage and violence
• helping to strengthen the RKSK against children. Overall, 5 million girls at risk were
programme by improving ministries’ intra- identified and linked to social protection schemes
sectoral and interdepartmental planning for mental health and psychosocial support, and help
on interdepartmental adolescent health, with education, plus the prevention of child marriage,
women’s empowerment and family planning.
through partnerships established by the programme.

© UNICEF/UN0853119/Magray
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 12

In Odisha, UNFPA began a strategic partnership The assessment was conducted by building
with the Department of Mission Shakti to empower on information from online resources, including
women. This three-year intervention is aimed the CSOs’ websites, reviews of available annual
at using large-scale platforms to reach nearly reports, analysis of strategy documents, social
600,000 girls with digital and financial literacy media pages, descriptions and commentary about
training, and to more than 270,000 girls the CSOs from external parties (for example funders,
with information on sexual and reproductive coalitions, or networks), and news articles.
rights and addressing harmful practices.
Although few partner organizations completed
UNFPA’s collaboration with youth organizations the survey, the desk review showed that the CSOs
and platforms such as NYKS, National Cadet Corps in India are mostly gender-responsive or gender-
and NSS helped develop strategies for youth transformative. Many of the organizations that
engagement and strengthened adolescent and youth ranked highly in their approach to gender equality
empowerment. Youth groups have been instrumental make men and boys partners in initiatives for social
in amplifying key messages on breaking gender- justice. Many of the organizations incorporate
based stereotypes, the prevention of violence the empowerment of women and girls into their
against girls, and other child protection priorities. programming and aim to change power dynamics,
norms and institutions, rather than merely focusing
on the passive delivery of support services
Investment in and support to youth-led, to women and girls. Safetip is a good illustration
women-led and feminist CSOs of a gender-transformative organization seeking
to improve safety in urban spaces and enable data-
Partnerships are important in advancing collection. This organization works to ensure that
gender-transformative programming and the people, women in particular, can make informed
Global Programme, recognizing this, assessed choices about their mobility. Its She Rises project
the extent to which the CSOs were implementing is particularly gender-transformative. It acknowledges
gender-transformative approaches. This that patriarchy places the burden of care primarily
was based on the partners identified as focusing upon women. This includes the care of vulnerable
on promoting girls’ and women’s rights in 2021 and excluded groups like children, the elderly
(54 in India). The assessment aimed to help guide and people with disabilities. It is are working towards
UNFPA and UNICEF on how to better identify a framework for gender-transformative change
and support opportunities to advance these in cities, to ensure that public spaces are responsive,
gender-transformative approaches. inclusive, safe and equitable. This organization
is strong both in terms of structural and substantive
FIGURE 2: Assessment of interventions of partner efforts to enable gender-transformative results.
organizations, on the gender equality continuum
Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsh Manda is another
interesting example. Structurally the organization
is strong. It has two committees:

CSOs not assessed,

assessed , 15% CSOs implementing
gender transformative • sexual harassment of women
CSOs
interventions,, 20%
interventions in the workplace committee
implementing
gender unequal • the grievance resolution committee.
interventions,, 7%
interventions

From a networking perspective, the organization

works with different community-based organizations
CSOs implementing and structures. All its programmes are based
gender sensitive
interventions,, 20%
interventions on empowering women and young girls and fighting
CSOs implementing
gender responsive for human rights. One focuses on empowering
interventions,, 37%
interventions
young women by teaching them negotiation skills
to stall early-marriage, among other things.
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 13

Challenges, lessons learned and next steps

The programme’s work with self-help groups, women-

and youth-led organizations, and grass roots level
workers provided opportunities to reach adolescents
and families in remote areas and marginalized
communities, identifying adolescents and children
at risk, and linking them with social protection schemes.

UNICEF and UNFPA mobilized people and resource

centres that assist communities in accessing social
protection programmes. The links created with self-
help groups and federations under the Government
missions also ensure sustainability and scalability © UNICEF/UN0853121/Magray

of the programme. However, lack of financial literacy

is a major challenge for people in accessing social
protection schemes, since most of scheme benefits
are paid through direct bank transfers. Many recipients in India, focusing on structural changes, as well
are reluctant, or do not have the right documentation, as support on generating the systemic change
to open and manage an account. In some states such from a gender-transformative perspective.
as Assam, Bihar, Gujarat and West Bengal, self-help
groups for adolescents and women are enhancing
their financial literacy and assisting people to open Facilitating supportive laws
bank accounts. Most social protection schemes and policies
for girls are conditional cash transfer schemes
linked with education, and access to these schemes
is restricted for adolescent girls from vulnerable In 2022, nine new policies and legal instruments were
communities who are unable to attend school. drafted with the support of UNFPA and UNICEF.
The Government proposed a bill to increase
There were only a handful of CSOs that ranked the minimum legal age of marriage of girls to 21 years.
as gender-blind. In general, their strategic UNFPA and UNICEF will continue to reiterate the need
programming does not appear to be informed for comprehensive and multi-pronged approaches
by a gender analysis, and they do not have, at their to address child marriage that focus on empowerment,
core, the mission of advancing the rights of women and which goes beyond legal amendment.
and girls through a gender-transformative lens. For example, UNFPA provided technical inputs
There are no indications that these organizations to the draft of the National Youth Policy to advance
incorporate the empowerment of women and girls adolescents’ rights and empowerment and to
into their programming and target structural change address harmful practices such as child marriage.
to power dynamics, norms and institutions. They
do not speak to the rights of women and children. In Odisha, through UNICEF advocacy, the state
These organizations fall short both at the structural department of law issued a circular to all temple
and substantive level when it comes to gender- authorities for the mandatory verification of the
transformative change, being unaccountable age of both parties before marriage. Following
for gender. Meanwhile, those that are ranked this, district administrations issued similar circulars
as gender-sensitive will likely only require minor which were displayed in more than 1,000 villages
recalibrations, particularly at the structural level in 25 districts. State criteria for declaring villages
to become gender-positive or gender-transformative. child-marriage-free were also developed.

Some of the more progressive CSOs could In West Bengal, with technical support from UNICEF,
benefit from a refresher course on gender- the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child
transformative approaches, and they could also Rights issued two memos for Kolkata and West Bengal
share positive impact stories in order to assist police with the request to treat child marriage cases
other organizations with practical suggestions on an urgent basis and for filing of First Information
for improvements. Accordingly, it is recommended Reports against all adults involved. A district-level
that a workshop, or series of workshops, be conducted training on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection)
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 14

Act 2015, trained 265 participants including District action plans on ending child marriage
CWC members, DCPU staff, and child welfare police or child protection were developed, revised,
officers from local police stations in order to improve and implemented by UNICEF in 181 districts in 10
their ability to ensure justice for survivors and help states (increasing from 175 districts in 2021), through
them to access legal services. Some 96 village multisectoral convergence and consultations.
police and civic volunteers were also trained on child Under the district action plans, District Task Forces
protection issues with special emphasis on child were formed or sustained to monitor progress
marriage and trafficking and their role in reporting, and address limitations and way forward.
preventing and generating awareness at community
level. Capacity of service providers to follow In Assam, UNICEF extended technical support to the
protocols on child marriage prevention and reporting state action plan on child marriage and district
was also enhanced through the training of: action plans on women and children in 17 districts.
At a district level, 368 stakeholders were supported
in developing action plans and capacity-building
• 30,707 ICDS Supervisors and AWW
resulting in key interventions and messages
• 20,515 ASHA, Anwesha Clinic Counsellors on ending child marriage and GBV and in support
and Block Public Head Nurses of adolescent empowerment being incorporated into
• 3,100 teachers line departmental exercises and processes, standard
project meetings and religious celebrations.
• 1,397 paralegal volunteers,
CWC members, police
In Bihar, UNICEF provided sustained technical
• 1967 block and district officials
assistance to the Women and Child Development
in 12 intervention districts.
Corporation, Social Welfare Department and other
departments for the development of a costed
In Rajasthan, UNFPA supported the launch of the State ending child marriage state-wide campaign,
Policy for Women in partnership with the Directorate along with several other measures to prevent
of Women Empowerment (DWE) in 2021. In 2022, child marriage, including a monitoring framework.
UNFPA supported the implementation of the policy Task forces which aim to end child marriage have
by developing a multisectoral integrated action been formed in all 22 districts. In most districts,
plan outlining strategies, activities and targets they meet four times a year. Some 33 trainings
relating to health, survival, safety and protection of Task Force members were organized, and 1,028
(including child marriage, economic empowerment officials (835 men and 193 women) were trained.
and the impact of climate change). Comprehensive
resource packages (posters and videos) were In Madhya Pradesh, under the Adolescent
also developed to raise awareness about harmful Empowerment Programme (AEP), multisectoral
practices against women and girls (such as GBV, district action plans have been developed on child
dowries, child marriage, gender biased sex selection, marriage and violence against children in 16 districts.
etc.). UNFPA also supported DWE in designing The AEP also facilitated training for more than
and implementing flagship programmes such 82,000 child protection workers and stakeholders
as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Chirali (community- (46 per cent female and 54 per cent male) on:
based model to address GBV) and Udaan (on
menstrual health and hygiene management). • child rights
• protection
In Assam, UNICEF provided technical support
for the development of the Child Protection Policy • gender
and an analysis to identify gaps in the Prohibition • legislation related to children
of Child Marriage Act, 2006. In Maharashtra, and their application
in response to the Bill that seeks to amend
• alternative care
the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, UNICEF
provided high-level technical support for the • family strengthening
Department of Women and Child Development, • prevention of child labour
including an analysis of NFHS data trends on child and rehabilitation of child labourers
marriage and related gender indicators and a
• child marriage
review of international and national human rights
treaties and standards and facilitating consultations • skills on engaging with children
with key gender and human rights experts. • social and behaviour change communication.
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 15

In Maharashtra, multi-departmental district task forces and child budget has been introduced in the Finance
(DTF) were established with the help of the Global Department’s website, BEAMS, capturing budgets
Programme in all 12 districts with a high prevalence for social protection schemes such as Nirbhaya
of child marriage. the task forces cover five key areas: fund and Fast Track Special Courts. It also indicates
the number of beneficiaries for such interventions.
• women and child development
In Rajasthan, to further address gender inequities
• education
and violence and promote adolescent empowerment,
• health the five-year-perspective plan and annual performance
• rural development improvement plan (PIP) of the Department
of Education were influenced to consolidate a gender-
• Panchayati Raj.
transformative approach in school-based adolescent
collectives. As a result, for the first time, components
District action plans with gender-transformative of engaging with boys on positive masculinities were
indicators have been formulated in seven districts included in state capacity-building programmes.
and are being drawn up in the remaining five districts.
The DTFs have been effective in implementing In West Bengal, ‘Guidelines for District Action Plan
the district action plans for ending child marriage (DAP) for Ending Child Marriage’ were finalized
and establishing a functional system at district level and rolled out state-wide with technical support
for preventing, and responding to, child marriage. from UNICEF. The guidelines provide a blueprint
The Child Marriage Eradication Programme of activities to assist each district in assessing
‘Saksham’ is being implemented in Jalgaon district the situation of its adolescents, formulating
with the support of Women and Child Development its own plan to end child marriage and promotes
and UNICEF. All Government and non-government collaboration and convergence between different line
stakeholders of the district have been trained and, departments. Direct support was provided towards
by creating master trainers among them, awareness DAP planning, preparation and reporting in 12 districts.
is being created at different Government levels Moreover, DAP monitoring and reporting through
and among the general public in urban and rural a standardized system has also been put in place.
areas. Some 100 Child Protection Committees were
formed in 1,485 villages in Jalgaon and the Chair
and members were trained on the issue of child The public policy maturity model
marriage. District child protection units of 24 districts
(outside the Global Programme) were further trained Elimination of harmful practices such as child
and have begun developing district action plans marriage requires the integration of strategic
for ending child marriage in their districts with their approaches, processes, systems and information.
District Collectors, taking into account geographical UNFPA and UNICEF recognize the role national
and sociocultural factors. In addition, a tab on gender action plans play in strengthening policy coherence

© UNICEF/UN0853072/Magray
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 16

The model is structured around six intermediate

outcomes and different subdomains that
are defined by distinct levels of maturity i.e.,
weak-building; average-enhancing; good-
integrating; and excellent-mature (see Figure 4).

TABLE 2: Snippet of the policy maturity model

Intermediate
Sub-Domains Score
Outcome

A1: Political Commitment

Governance
and Coordi- A2: Coordination structures
nation

A3: National Action Plans

Policy and B.1: Legislation, policies

Legislation and implementation mechanisms

C1: Independent complaint mechanism

exists for children and women
Engagement
C2: Civil Society Engagement, including
and Partici-
women and children
pation
C3: Community based mechanisms
© UNICEF/UNI415734/Kaur —-
for Harmful practices prevention

D1: Financing of harmful practices

services

to achieve this. Lessons from the Organization D2: National budget establishment —-
for Economic Cooperation and Development peer
review process emphasize that the plans need: D3: National Budget execution —-
Financing
& HR
• political commitment and policy statements D4: National Budget amount

• policy coordination mechanisms

D5: National Budget monitoring
• systems for monitoring, and review
analysis and reporting.
D6: Human Resources

UNICEF has developed and tested a policy maturity E1: Availability of Standard Operating
model and tools for assessing public policies Procedures and/or Protocols for harmful —-
to end harmful practices and achieve SDG 5.3 practices services

by 2030 in 12 countries (Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, E.2: Understanding and articulation

Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Lebanon, Mozambique, of harmful practices system
Access
Nepal, Niger, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia). to Services
E3: Modelling testing and scaling
—-
of harmful practices services
The maturity model provides a framework E4: Availability of harmful practices
for key national stakeholders to review and assess services, case management a
nd referral systems
national policy approaches and systems for
F1: Administrative data systems
and monitoring to routinely generate —-
• eliminating and preventing female genital data on FGM
mutilation (FGM) and child marriage Data
collection, F2: Data security and governance
• identifying priorities or critical investments M&E

• building consensus around the interventions. F3: Research and surveys —-

2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 17

The benchmarks for each level of maturity have been FIGURE 3: Policy maturity assessment for India
defined and require certain priorities, processes,
and results to be achieved for each subdomain, Governance and
Coordination
and can be contextualized by country. Feedback from
the testing emphasized the role of the model as:
3,0

Data collection, Policy and

• a useful advocacy tool M&E 2,0 Legislation

• something that builds Government

accountability and action towards 1,0
elimination of harmful practices
• a tool to review and track the implementation 0,0
of a national action plan.

On average, overall country ratings on a 4-point scale

Access Engagement
ranged from 1.8 (weak-building in Bangladesh) to 3.0 to Services and Participation
(good-integrating in Zambia). Financing and human
resources (rating 1.3) emerged as the area where
countries were rated the least, while governance
Financing
and coordination (rating 2.7) were rated highly. and HR

© UNICEF/UN0853163/Magray
2022 COUNTRY PROFILES india UNFPA–UNICEF Global programme to End Child Marriage 18

Challenges, lessons learned and next steps Support will be provided by the Global
Programme in the several areas:
The major challenge at both state and district
level, is the limited ability of the various line • UNFPA and UNICEF will strengthen their
departments to work together. Collaboration engagement in high-level advocacy
is hampered by frequent changes in bureaucracy, with national and state actors for the
and a lack of continuity in strong leadership proposed national bill to raise the minimum
to enforce convergence. Other challenges include: legal age of marriage for girls.
• UNICEF will advocate with
• Law enforcement agencies are reluctant the state governments to review,
to prioritize child marriage prevention, monitor and amend state and district
and elected representatives too often action plans for ending child marriage
do not want to address the issue for fear and ensure coherence and convergence
of losing political support. between all different stakeholders.

• Subdistrict level child protection structures • The programme will continue to support
are informal and weak, and building Government workers in preventing
accountability within them requires time and responding to child marriage, connecting
and intensive effort. Increased participation girls at risk with services and integrating
at block and community level is required. programmes and services for child
brides, who are highly marginalized.
• The inclination to use increasingly punitive
measures to address child marriage increases • In Madhya Pradesh, UNFPA is in discussion
the risk of criminalizing adolescent sexuality. with the State Planning Commission for the
development of the State Women’s Policy.
• Capacity-building needs to be carried UNFPA technical support has been requested
out at institutional level to mainstream to also develop a strategy paper and action
gender-transformative approaches plan on addressing GBV and for integrating
in interventions and plans on ending child gender in the behaviour change
marriage through sustained and systematic communication framework developed by the
commitments and partnerships. Women and Child Development Directorate
(WCD) – addressing child marriage through
• Grassroot level committees such as village
rights-based approaches will be integral to the
level child protection committees need to be
policy documents proposed to be developed.
strengthened as they are key to addressing
GBV and child marriage. Advocacy with • In Odisha, UNICEF and UNFPA will continue
the states should continue to highlight to provide technical assistance to the
the importance of grassroot committees. WCD in addressing child marriage, with
additional assistance on addressing violence
against women through multisectoral
coordination (involving the Departments
of Health, Home, Mahila and Shishu Desks).
• In Bihar, UNFPA will support research
on developing an investment case for ending
child marriage in partnership with the A.N.
Sinha institute of Social Studies.
• The programme will continue
to focus on helping the Government
to ensure child marriage interventions
are able to reach the most hard-to-
reach and marginalized communities.
• The programme will also continue
to enhance important structures at district
and community level, including DTF and
grass roots-level committees for better
implementation of district action plans.
COUNTRY PROFILE
2022