Girls Not Brides at the 58th Plenary General Assembly Standing Committee Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum
The session highlighted regional progress, tools for accountability, and reaffirmed a shared commitment to ending child marriage across Southern Africa.
At the 58th Plenary General Assembly Standing Committee Session of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum, held from 24 October to 1 November 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Girls Not Brides joined parliamentarians, partners, and advocates to reaffirm a shared commitment: ending child marriage and advancing the rights of girls across Southern Africa.
Speaking on behalf of Girls Not Brides, Noleen Sang-Opondo, emphasised that ending child marriage demands more than belief; it requires bold action, sustained investment, and accountability.
According to UNICEF, nearly one-third of young women in Eastern and Southern Africa were married before the age of 18. These are not just statistics, they are stories of interrupted childhoods and lost opportunities. But each girl who is supported to stay in school or empowered as a survivor represents hope restored.
Noleen Sang-Opondo, Senior Officer - Partnerships and Member Engagement, Africa Team
Noleen commended the SADC Parliamentary Forum for its leadership, highlighting progress across the region; from Malawi’s National Strategy to End Child Marriage to Lesotho’s recent legal reforms. Yet, she stressed that progress must accelerate to achieve the goal of ending child marriage within this generation.
Noleen Sang-Opondo giving opening remarks.
To strengthen accountability and drive evidence-based action, she endorsed the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Dashboard, a new digital tool designed to help parliamentarians and stakeholders track how countries are implementing the SADC Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children Already in Marriage.
This dashboard is more than numbers; it is a compass guiding our decisions and a lever for change. When parliament stands up for girls, entire generations stand taller.
Noleen Sang-Opondo, Senior Officer - Partnerships and Member Engagement, Africa Team
Girls Not Brides reaffirmed its commitment to working alongside SADC Parliamentary Forum, national governments, and youth-led and women-led organisations. Together, we must transform data into action, ensure adequate and sustained financing, and foster cross-sector collaboration to end child marriage and unlock the power of girls across Southern Africa.
Standing Committee in session.
In the time it has taken to read this article 20 girls under the age of 18 have been married
Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18
That is 23 girls every minute
Nearly 1 every 2 seconds