Every year, 12 million girls lose their right to education because of child marriage and teen pregnancy, trapping them in cycles of poverty and inequality. I was one of them.

At 13, I was pulled from school to become a wife and mother.

My story paints a vivid picture of the struggles many young girls endure when being forced to marry. At a very young age, I lost my mother in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to conflict and was left in the care of my uncle.

Tragedy struck when my uncle forced me to marry a 45-year-old man—a complete stranger to me—in exchange for a dowry that would alleviate my uncle’s financial woes.

This marriage shattered my hopes for a better future and robbed me of my childhood and my dreams. At 15, I gave birth, but with many complications due to my young age.

After being in the Kyaka II Refugee Settlement, I was fortunate to be resettled to Sweden through the UNHCR resettlement process. There I returned to school and enrolled in a vocational program to pursue my diploma in cooking.

Alongside my studies, I am actively advocating for the rights of girls living as refugees to access both formal and informal education.

My lived experience serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to address the harmful practice of child marriage and to protect the rights of young girls in marginalized communities.

Girls experiencing displacement are particularly vulnerable, facing heightened risks of forced marriage and early motherhood due to economic hardship, limited opportunities and cultural norms that prioritize marriage over their rights and futures.

Education is central to addressing both of these issues, particularly because a lack of schooling is both a cause and consequence of these harmful practices: girls pulled from school are more likely to become child brides; and those forced into marriage face barriers to continuing their education.

Forced child marriage is a grave violation that deprives young girls of education, autonomy and childhood while perpetuating harmful gender norms and often leading to teenage pregnancy.

Young mothers also face serious health risks including higher maternal mortality and complications while their children are more likely to experience developmental issues—all continuing cycles of poverty.

In displacement settings like refugee camps, the lack of education, healthcare and protection services exacerbates these risks.

What can be done to end child marriage in fragile contexts

Organizations like the Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN) are essential to empowering youth living as refugees to advocate for the prevention of child marriage and teenage pregnancy, directly addressing key barriers girls face in accessing education.

The Global Refugee Youth Network also invests in refugee youth-led organizations (RYLOS) that not only amplify the voices of young advocates for and who are themselves refugees, but also foster a sense of ownership and empowerment among marginalized youth populations with refugee status.

These youth-led organizations can play a crucial role in ensuring girls living as refugees have access to educational opportunities and protection services that are especially scarce in displacement settings.

By equipping young people with the resources and support they need, the Global Refugee Youth Network helps create sustainable solutions to protect girls living as refugees from harmful practices, promote their rights and well-being, and ensure they have the opportunity to continue their education and thrive.

Collaborating and engaging with youth leaders living as refugees ensures funding is effectively utilized to make a meaningful impact in the lives of adolescent girls and survivors who are displaced.

Organizations led by youth who are refugees are present within the refugee community 24/7. They are youth that are from the same culture. And they understand the challenges the community faces.

There is a need to increase funding, support and capacity building for organizations led by youth living as refugees. Linking these organizations with the child protection sector of a country is a great way to do that.

Another gap is that young refugees are often frontline responders to crises in their communities, yet they are not often directly funded by donors and are frequently left out of decision making.

Strengthening the capacity of refugee youth-led organizations at the community level, recognizing and funding their work, and linking them in with the broader child protection system is essential to be able to prioritize and fully realize child protection and children’s access to education at the community level.

Funding these organizations within communities of refugees will reduce fragility as well as advance development gains, particularly by enhancing educational access for girls living as refugees.

How to protect refugee youth and women and their education: A call to action

It is time to stand and work together to support existing efforts to protect adolescent girls at risk of forced child marriage and teenage pregnancy, including addressing harmful social norms and gender-based violence and especially in situations of forced displacement.

We can make a tangible difference in the lives of vulnerable girls and contribute to building more inclusive communities and education systems if we:

1. Work with refugee youth and women-led organizations that are providing holistic child protection services. Organizations led by youth living as refugees have the strategic partnerships, legitimacy and capacity to reach the most marginalized and vulnerable communities and should be supported now more than ever.
2. Invest in youth and women-led initiatives that empower young leaders and provide sustainable protection for adolescent girls at risk in refugee communities.
3. Invest in the training and professional development of female teachers who are refugees to develop their teaching skills and support their path to formal certification within a host country’s national education system. Female teachers living as refugees are uniquely placed to serve as role models and advocates for girls’ access to quality education in displacement settings.
4. Promote collaboration and foster partnership between global donors, organizations and local youth groups to leverage collective expertise and resources. By working together, we can create a more coordinated response to the needs of adolescent girls and survivors in displacement settings.
5. Emphasize the importance of accountability and transparency in funding processes by requiring regular reporting, monitoring and evaluation of supported initiatives.