A classroom, not a marriage: investing in every Gambian girl

Banjul, 9 October 2026 — "Every girl in The Gambia deserves a childhood - the freedom to learn, to lead, and to decide her own future. Child marriage takes that freedom away. 

"On 11 October, the world marks International Day of the Girl under the theme "End child marriage and invest in girls' rights". The theme was shaped through consultations with girls and girl-led networks around the world. It is their demand of us, and we stand with them. 

"Globally, a girl is married roughly every three seconds, with the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet an estimated 68 million child marriages have been averted over the past 25 years through investment in girls' education, legal reform and social protection. Progress is possible, and The Gambia is proof of it. 

Girls are leading the way

"More girls are in school than ever before, and girls made up the majority of those who earned the grades to go further in this year's senior secondary examinations. We congratulate every one of them. The results also carry a warning. Fewer than one in ten candidates reached the five credits, including English and Mathematics, required for university. Our girls are ready. Our schools must now rise to meet them. 

Real progress, unequal reach 

"The Gambia has not looked away from child marriage. The Children's Act of 2005 prohibits it, and the 2016 Amendment introduced severe penalties for anyone who arranges, conducts, or fails to report one. The practice is falling. The share of women aged 20 to 24 married before 18 dropped from 30.4 percent in 2013 to 23.1 percent in the 2019–20 Demographic and Health Survey. That is the result of courageous advocacy by communities, religious leaders and girls themselves, with the Government and its partners. 

"But progress on paper is not yet progress in every home. Nearly one in four young women was still married as a child, and the burden falls unevenly, 17 percent in urban areas against 43 percent in rural areas, below 8 percent in Banjul against more than 54 percent in Kuntaur. A girl's future should never be decided by the village she is born in. 

"Education offers the clearest answer. Almost half of women with no schooling were married as children, compared with fewer than one in ten of those who reached secondary education or higher. For a Gambian girl, a classroom is a place of learning and a place of protection. 

What investing in girls means 

"UNICEF calls for action in five areas: 

1. Keep girls in school, financing their transition into secondary and tertiary education, because every extra year in a classroom is a year she is not a bride. 

2. Expand social protection for the poorest households, so that no family sees a daughter's marriage as the way through hardship. 

3. Strengthen the social service workforce, so that a girl at risk is reached before the ceremony and not after it. 

4. Provide adolescent-friendly health services, including mental health support, that girls can use without shame. 

5. Enforce the law we already have. A law that is not applied protects no one. 

These are affordable choices. They cost a fraction of what the nation loses each time a girl's potential is cut short. 

A shared responsibility 

"To parents, your daughter's education is not a delay to her future. It is her future. To religious and traditional leaders, when you say a girl belongs in a classroom and not in a marriage, communities listen. To teachers, you see the warning signs first. Speak up. To Government, enforce the law and put girls in the national budget. To development partners, direct resources to the regions where girls are most at risk. And to the boys and young men of The Gambia, stand beside your sisters and classmates, and refuse to accept that a girl's worth is measured by marriage. 

"Girls of The Gambia, you have told us what you want: safe schools, health services you can trust, an end to child marriage, and a seat at the table where decisions about your lives are made. We have heard you. Be bold. Stay in school. Lead. You are already changing this country. 

"UNICEF stands with every girl in The Gambia, and we will walk this road with you until each one is safe, educated, and free to decide her own future."