The Guardian: Child marriage shows it takes a village to achieve a goal
Heather Saunders, policy and advocacy adviser at Plan International U.K.

“…[O]ur experience shows us that it’s not helpful to cherrypick certain issues, to separate human development from the environment, or good governance. Each goal and target in the [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)] framework cannot be isolated from the others. … Take child marriage — a form of violence against girls that means 15 million girls each year lose out on their childhood. … To end this practice by 2030, we need to recognize it is linked to a wide range of issues, including education, poverty, governance, other forms of violence against girls, and attitudes to girls’ rights. Child marriage will not end without communities and societies that support gender equality. … Girls and boys need to be healthy, educated, and politically and economically empowered with access to their rights to be active citizens, living in a safe and sustainable planet. Approaches that single out some goals over others, or act purely on the basis of value for money, risk failing to put human rights at the heart of development practice and leaving the most marginalized behind…” (8/11).