More than 60 million girls around the world are married - often at the encouragement of their parents and to much older men - with no say in the decision to marry. If current patterns continue, more than 100 million girls in the developing world will be married during the next 10 years. These marriages occur despite the fact that national laws often prohibit it and that international human rights documents state that marriage should be entered into with the free and full consent of both partners. The rate of child marriage varies greatly by nation and even by region within a country and is most common in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia as well as the Middle East. For example, in Ethiopia's Amhara region, about half of all girls are married by 14 years old. 

Every year, around the world 10 million girls under the age of 18 enter into early and forced marriages. In Cameroun, it is estimated that 36% of girls are married before they are 18. But in the Extreme North of Cameroun, where IWHC’s partner APAD is based, nearly 80% have experienced an early and forced marriage. APAD (in English, Association for the Promotion of the Independence and Rights of the Girl Child) is led by young women who are survivors of child marriage. They work to empower girls like them, and to make sure survivors are able to tell their stories, demand social change, and survive on their own.  

Child marriage is the major cause worldwide of pregnancies before age 15. In most of the developing world, 90 percent of girls who give birth before age 18 are married. Young brides typically become sexually active as soon as they are married, sometimes before their first menstruation. Often living in their husband's household and community, they face intense pressures to bear children as soon as possible, with potentially disastrous results.