Malala Fund, the global education advocacy organisation founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, has announced support for a youth-led coalition seeking to reduce child marriage in Nigeria by keeping more girls in school.
The fund said it will provide a two-year Joint Action Grant (JAG) to four Nigerian civil society organisations working to activate the country’s National Strategy to End Child Marriage, with girls’ education positioned as the central policy solution.
Nigeria has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with more than 30% of girls married before the age of 18, according to official estimates. In the country’s northeast and northwest regions, the figure rises to as high as 50%, driven by poverty, insecurity and school dropout.
“Ending child marriage requires political will coupled with a clear path forward, not just good intentions,” said Nabila Aguele, Malala Fund’s Chief Executive for Nigeria. “This grant backs youth leaders to drive collective action, and move Nigeria’s National Strategy off paper and into action — with clear state plans, real financing, and accountability for results.”
The grant will support coordinated advocacy and implementation efforts at the national level and across Adamawa, Borno, Kano, Kaduna and Bauchi states, regions with some of the highest child marriage rates in the country.
The coalition is led by Education As a Vaccine (EVA), alongside YouthHubAfrica (YHA), the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) and Onelife Initiative. The organisations will work with government agencies to promote education-focused reforms, strengthen enforcement of existing laws such as the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, and push states to adopt clear action plans and funding commitments.
“Tipping Point”
New research cited by Malala Fund underscores the economic and social impact of education in delaying marriage. Analysis by Accelerate Hub, a research partnership led by the University of Oxford and the University of Cape Town, suggests that reaching more unmarried, out-of-school adolescent girls in northern Nigeria with education and support programmes could reduce child marriage by around two-thirds within four years.
The modelling, based on an estimated $114 million investment, projects economic returns more than 21 times the initial cost, while preventing an estimated 327,000 child marriages.
“The tipping point is school dropout,” the fund said, noting that marriage often becomes the default option once girls leave school, while completion of secondary education significantly delays marriage.
Beyond policy advocacy, the coalition plans to generate new research on barriers to girls’ education, promote school re-entry for married and pregnant girls, and challenge harmful social norms through community engagement and behaviour-change campaigns.
“Every girl has the right to complete 12 years of education, and when she does, child marriage becomes far less likely,” said Toyin Chukwudozie, Executive Director of Education As a Vaccine. “When we protect a girl’s education, we don’t just change her life — we break the cycle of child marriage for the next generation.”
Malala Fund works globally to ensure girls can access 12 years of free, safe and quality education, focusing on advocacy, research and funding local organisations in regions where girls’ education faces the greatest barriers.
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