In Ecuador, about 22% of girls get married before they reach the age of 18. The reasons this happens vary from families trying to escape poverty to violent groups using these children as a recruitment tactic for gaining more soldiers. However, no matter the reason child marriage can deeply hurt both the community and the children themselves. Most child marriages often come with the added expectation of having children, which can force the child out of school and put said child in danger of facing multiple health complications. This not only robs them of their life, but also the family of the child now faces a lower chance of breaking the poverty cycle. Here are some organizations that help end child marriage in Ecuador:

UN Women

Originally founded in 2010 as a part of the United Nations, U.N. Women has been helping with women’s rights all over the world. Its latest contribution to ending child marriage in Ecuador was in 2015 when it pressured multiple Latin and Central American countries to enforce 18 as the legal marriage. For Ecuador specifically, U.N. Women helped reform the law to have the legal age of marriage as 18.

Nada Foundation

Created by a human rights activist, Nada Al-Ahdal in 2015, the Nada Foundation works to fight and advocate against child marriage all over the world. While a lot of her most well-known work took place in the Middle East, Nada and her organization have advocated to help end child marriage in Ecuador, mainly by helping survivors of child marriage and giving girls better access to education in hopes of lowering the chances of getting married prematurely.

Parliamentarians for Global Action

The Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) is an organization that works to improve human rights on a global scale. This includes women’s rights and helping with the abolition of child marriage. PGA has a campaign where it talks to legislators to better address the issue of child marriage, including Ecuador. In 2022, they also worked in collaboration with Girls Not Brides to strategize with the National Group in the National Assembly of Ecuador.

Girls Not Brides

Originally founded in 2011, Girls Not Brides focuses its efforts on an international scale and often works with other organizations in different countries to help with their goal of eliminating child marriage. In Ecuador, it has two listed partners, Let Girls Rise and Sendas.

Child marriage directly hurts the family of the bride and the child herself, but helping to fight it gives these children better hope for the future.

– Jose Gabriel Lopez

Jose is based in London, UK and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr