UN Declares November 27 International Day to End Child, Early and Forced Marriage
The United Nations General Assembly has decided to observe November 27 every year as the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage.
The decision was outlined in draft resolution A/80/L.99, submitted by Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Morocco and Sierra Leone. The resolution calls on UN member states, civil society, religious leaders, academic institutions and other stakeholders to undertake awareness, education and advocacy programmes to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage.
The UN resolution recognises child, early and forced marriage as a harmful practice that violates or undermines human rights. It also highlights its impact on the education, health and economic opportunities of girls and women.
Assam’s child marriage crackdown
The UN decision comes as Assam has been carrying out a major campaign against child marriage.
The Assam government launched a large-scale crackdown in February 2023, with police registering cases and arresting people accused of violating laws relating to child marriage.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has consistently defended the crackdown, saying that Child marriage must be treated as a criminal offence and that the state would follow a zero-tolerance policy.
According to figures cited by Sarma, Assam has registered more than 12,000 cases and made over 11,000 arrests in its campaign against child marriage.
The Chief Minister has also highlighted an 81% reduction in child marriages across 20 districts of the state.
81% decline reported across 20 districts
A report by India Child Protection had earlier highlighted a significant decline in child marriages across 20 districts of Assam between 2021-22 and 2023-24.
The report, based on NCRB data and a survey covering 1,132 villages, reported an 81% reduction in child marriages in the districts studied.
The Assam government has also linked its wider strategy to a reduction in teenage pregnancies and an increase in girls’ enrolment in higher education.
The controversy around Assam’s approach
Assam’s crackdown has also attracted criticism, particularly over the scale of arrests.
Opposition parties and several civil society groups questioned whether criminal action alone could address a practice linked to poverty, school dropouts and social attitudes.
The pattern of arrests across different communities also became a political issue, with allegations of disproportionate impact on Muslim communities. The state government has denied religious targeting and maintained that the law is being enforced against anyone involved in child marriage.
Despite the controversy, the government has continued to defend strict enforcement as necessary to deter the practice.
Assam and the UN decision
The UN’s decision does not mean that the organisation has formally adopted Assam’s child-marriage crackdown as its model. The international resolution is a broader initiative supported by multiple countries.
However, the timing has given Assam’s campaign additional international context.
While Assam has focused on enforcement, the UN resolution calls for a wider approach involving Education, awareness, policy measures, women’s empowerment and protection of girls’ rights.
Sarma has welcomed the UN declaration and argued that Assam’s experience demonstrates the impact that sustained action against child marriage can have.
He has said Assam will continue its campaign against child and forced marriage and has described the fight as an effort to protect the future of girls.
The UN’s declaration now gives the global campaign a dedicated date—November 27—while Assam continues its own efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate child marriage.
