Strategic investment in girlhood: Uttar Pradesh’s MKSY Model for Empowerment
Linking social protection to life-stage milestones, MKSY is helping delay marriage and strengthen girls’ futures
Highlights
While India has achieved significant reductions in child marriage, the scale and diversity across states, such as Uttar Pradesh, mean that risks remain unevenly distributed. Poverty, gender discrimination, and barriers to girls’ education continue to influence adolescent outcomes in many districts.
Through the Global Programme to End Child Marriage (GPECM), UNICEF supports the Government of Uttar Pradesh in advancing multi-sectoral approaches that promote girls’ empowerment and strengthen protective systems.
UNICEF and UNFPA support national efforts to combat child marriage and promote adolescent empowerment in 14 states at the national and state levels through the Global Programme to End Child Marriage.
This case study examines the Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana (MKSY), a conditional cash transfer scheme that provides financial support to girls across critical stages of their life cycle. By linking incentives to education, health, and skill development, the initiative addresses structural vulnerabilities while strengthening household and community support for girls’ futures.
Uttar Pradesh’s experience demonstrates how strategic social protection investments, combined with adolescent collectives and institutional coordination, can delay marriage, promote continuity of education, and reinforce the value of girls in society.
