ICRW Hosts Panelist Discussion on Girls’ Empowerment and Child Marriage
12 September 2014
Media Contact
On Friday, ICRW hosted an event to highlight the findings from a brand new report, “More Power To Her: How Empowering Girls Can Help End Child Marriage,” which looks at programs from CARE, BRAC, Save the Children and Pathfinder International that used girls’ empowerment as a way to improve the lives of adolescents girls who were susceptible to, or already in a marriage.
Following welcome remarks from ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou and a presentation of ICRW’s findings by Senior Gender and Youth Specialist Ann Warner, program experts from the implementing organizations offered insights into best practices to end child marriage and articulated what still needs to be done during a lively panel discussion.
The panelists were Doris Bartel, Senior Director of Gender and Empowerment at CARE Stacey Clark, Program Manager and CFO at BRAC USA Patrick Crump, Associate Vice President of Program Quality and Impact at Save the Children and Mathew Joseph Country Representative – India at Pathfinder International. They explained how their respective programs were able to encourage girls to reach their potential and reiterated to the importance of providing girls with social support, information, and skills training necessary to ensure they have the ability to advocate for themselves.
The discussion also touched on the limitations of focusing solely on girls’ empowerment when creating initiatives meant to eradicate child marriage. In order for programs to be successful, community members, local and national governments, and individual families need to be a part of the conversation about ending child marriage, our panelists noted. Still, these programs represent an important starting point for creating frameworks that make the wellbeing of adolescent girls a development priority. Looking forward to the Post-2015 development agenda, the potential of these girls – if given the opportunity to succeed – demonstrates that addressing their needs could have profoundly positive effects on global progress.
Lively debate about how we can best empower girls and end child marriage continued online as audience members and twitter participants used the hashtag #MorePower2Her to share their thoughts on practices to end child marriage. Check out this stream below to see what people were talking about during the event:
We’re excited to join @ICRW @BRACworld @SavetheChildren & @CARE today for #MorePower2Her! Starts in a few minutes! http://t.co/CKAV7ynFkl
— Pathfinder Int. (@PathfinderInt) September 12, 2014
Panelists photo before kicking off event launching @ICRW ‘s new report on ending child marriage. #MorePower2Her pic.twitter.com/St6tyWEaij
— Kiki Kalkstein (@kkalkstein) September 12, 2014
“It is our duty to support girls, to amplify their voices, and to help change the world around them” –ICRW’s @SarahDKambou #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
Ann Warner shares our newest report on #ChildMarriage, which you can read here http://t.co/veBAs7XGcJ #MorePower2Her pic.twitter.com/UMvXo1s7hc
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
A packed house here at @ICRW‘s event. Ending #childmarriage is a matter of human rights & is key to Econ and social dev #morepower2her
— Caitlin Thistle (@CaitlinNewmanT) September 12, 2014
Ann Warner @ICRW on girl-centered strategies: 1) empowering girls 2) accessibility to schools 3) economic support&incentives #MorePower2Her
— Kiki Kalkstein (@kkalkstein) September 12, 2014
Info, skills & social support are critical when looking at the effectiveness of programs delaying/ reducing child marriage #MorePower2her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
Resources, agency, & achievements are key 4 #girls #empowerment @ICRW‘s report shows. Broad look at unique life stage. #Morepower2Her
— Roxanne Alvarez (@microfinanseer) September 12, 2014
.@CARE TESFA participant & child bride: “now I do not want my younger sisters to pass through what I have passed through” #Morepower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
#Education and economic opportunities- effective pathway to empowerment of girls ~ @ICRW‘s Ann Warner #MorePower2Her
— Iba D. Reller (@Ibadet) September 12, 2014
#Education opportunities 4 married adolescent girls enhances alternatives improves expectations & values to #endchildmarriage #MorePower2Her
— Chiedza Mufunde (@SkaChiedza) September 12, 2014
Girls can’t just empower themselves. They need support from families and community members to combat norms around marriage. #morepower2her
— Erin Kelly (@Erin_InDC) September 12, 2014
As @GirlsNotBrides advocates for, we need long-term vision, coordination and commitment to #endchildmarriage #MorePower2her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
We need to put girls at center of programming & also include families & communities to #endchildmarriage @ICRW #MorePower2Her
— Kristin Fack (@knfack) September 12, 2014
#Childmarriage is not just about age – it’s about quality and equality. @ICRW @bcimaGIRL #MorePower2Her
— Audrey Anderson (@aeande) September 12, 2014
We now welcome our moderator @TamaraKreinin and panelists from @CARE, @BRACworld, @SavetheChildren & @PathfinderInt #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
We now welcome our moderator @TamaraKreinin and panelists from @CARE, @BRACworld, @SavetheChildren & @PathfinderInt #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
#MorePower2her – panel discussion of programs to combat #childmarriage through empowering girls to create change. pic.twitter.com/dmmZ3RXGw5
— Chrissy Hart (@ChrissyThrive) September 12, 2014
Discussing best practices to empower girls, Patrick Crump offers insight from @SavetheChildren‘s #MorePower2Her pic.twitter.com/yfkFTlwMP9
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
Each panelist testifies re personal transformation you can physically see once girls know their rights, raise their voices. #morepower2her
— Lyric Thompson (@lyricthompson) September 12, 2014
More importantly, how can advocates make case enough that #girls R worth fighting for? They’re valuable in their own right. #Morepower2Her
— Roxanne Alvarez (@microfinanseer) September 12, 2014
Funding & government support/resources remain challenges in running & scaling up successful programs for girls #morepower2her
— Kristin Fack (@knfack) September 12, 2014
Pathfinder’s Mathew Joseph discussing child marriage in India at today’s @ICRW #MorePower2Her event pic.twitter.com/oeEhPyn62o
— Pathfinder Int. (@PathfinderInt) September 12, 2014
Bartel of @CARE: as important as girl-focused programs are, community support is crucial for improving life quality #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
Finding a permanent home for these programs is crucial to their sustainability. #MorePower2Her
— Christina Amutah (@ChristinaAmutah) September 12, 2014
TY Patrick Crump for honest overview of @SavetheChildren program in Egypt to get girls back in school. Now to get gov buy in. #MorePower2Her
— Caitlin Thistle (@CaitlinNewmanT) September 12, 2014
Mathew Joseph @PathfinderInt India discusses PRACHAR proj on #SRHR & behavior change #MorePower2Her #EndChildMarriage pic.twitter.com/pNTQWpD4B6
— Kiki Kalkstein (@kkalkstein) September 12, 2014
Our panelists from @SavetheChildren & @BRACworld: social networks & making schools a better place for girls are key #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
Our panelists from @SavetheChildren & @BRACworld: social networks & making schools a better place for girls are key #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
Opportunity to connect with peers was very important for @CARE TESFA child brides bc they were otherwise socially isolated #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
Social networks & supportive peer learning key to successful programs for girls #MorePower2Her #endchildmarriage
— Kristin Fack (@knfack) September 12, 2014
Girls were isolated, it was very important for them to have the opportunity to meet their peers says @CARE‘s Doris Bartel #MorePower2Her
— Iba D. Reller (@Ibadet) September 12, 2014
.@CARE @ICRW we need to listen directly to girls and work with them to #endchildmarriage #MorePower2Her #lead4girls
— Erin Kennedy (@erinrosekennedy) September 12, 2014
Bartel of @CARE reminds us: girls in these programs are at an age when peers are SO important & social connections are key #MorePower2Her
— Kiki Kalkstein (@kkalkstein) September 12, 2014
As our panelists have said, programming to #endchildmarriage must engage men & boys too bc they often dictate societal norms #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
Engage men! We hear this more and more. Need 2 think seriously about how 2 do so constructively. There ARE male advocates. #MorePower2Her
— Roxanne Alvarez (@microfinanseer) September 12, 2014
For policy initiatives: we need 2 think beyond age cutoffs for marriage, we have to aim for equality of relationships –@CARE #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014
#morepower2her panelists on #girls in #post2015 #globaldev agenda – put them at the center! #endchildmarriage
— Lyric Thompson (@lyricthompson) September 12, 2014
#morepower2her. Let’s understand what marriage means and bring more choice for girls. pic.twitter.com/otRSp70WlG
— Gina Alvarado Merino (@Gina_Alvarado_M) September 12, 2014
@ICRW @CARE We need to think about how change happens to empower girls to #endchildmarriage. #MorePower2Her
— Erin Kennedy (@erinrosekennedy) September 12, 2014
Thank you to @TamaraKreinin @CARE @BRACworld @SavetheChildren @PathfinderInt for joining us for this enriching panel! #MorePower2Her
— ICRW (@ICRW) September 12, 2014