A future without child marriage.

At World Vision, we believe every child deserves a hopeful future free from abuse, violence, and child marriage. Yet the reality is stark: 51% of girls in Bangladesh and 23% of girls in Kenya are married before their 18th birthday.

To confront this crisis, World Vision launched the Big Dream to End Child Marriage program, partnering with communities in Bangladesh and Kenya to empower girls to stay in school, gain skills, and break the cycle of poverty that drives early marriage.

Our Approach
Our work is grounded in two core principles:

• Girls should be able to decide if, when, and whom to marry.
• Communities must have a protective environment that prevents child marriage.

To put these principles into action, the program focuses on five areas that address the root causes of child marriage:

• Behavior Change: Families and communities adopt equitable norms that reject child marriage.
• Education: Girls gain access to quality education and life skills training.
• Economic Empowerment: Families strengthen their livelihoods, reducing financial pressure to marry off daughters.
• Water and Sanitation: Improved access to water and hygiene removes barriers that keep girls out of school.
• Child Protection Systems: Laws and policies are strengthened, resourced, and enforced to prevent child marriage.

Why World Vision
For more than 75 years, World Vision has partnered with communities, governments, and donors to help vulnerable children build brighter futures in the world’s toughest places. Our expertise in delivering water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions, our proven track record of helping families move beyond extreme poverty, and our decades of leadership in advancing equality for women and girls uniquely position us to address the barriers that prevent children from reaching their full potential.

In 2019, we launched the Kenya Big Dream program to protect vulnerable children by working to end child marriage and eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM). The program made significant progress by educating children, advocating for child protection, and improving family livelihoods— reducing the economic pressure to marry off daughters for a bride price.

At the Kenya Big Dream program launch the prevalence of child marriage in the Samburu tribe was 67% across 30 villages. At the program mid-term, the prevalence was under 13% among those who participated in our program.

Our Vision for 2030
The Big Dream to End Child Marriage program applies our evidence-based approach that builds on our previous success in Kenya and expands into Bangladesh. By 2030, we aim to directly reach 660,000 people, including nearly 170,000 girls. In addition, 1.2 million people will indirectly benefit from improved social, health, and economic conditions.

We invite you to join this growing community of supporters. With your partnership, we can help end child marriage and harmful practices in the areas where we work and ensure more girls step into the futures God intends for them.