“We ought to do everything in our power to ensure girls can become all they can be.” Desmond Tutu

In November, Desmond Tutu and Graça Machel took part in a Girls Not Brides conference discussing how to end child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa. The event in South Africa brought together activists, campaigners and experts from across the continent.

For the International Day of the Girl 2012, Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson travelled to the United States to take part in a series of events marking the day, including a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a high-level panel discussion with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and a live web conversation with child marriage activists and experts.

“The empowerment of girls holds the key to development and security for families, communities and societies worldwide.”

In an opinion piece published in newspapers around the world for the International Day of the Girl, Desmond Tutu and Ela Bhatt call on the international community to commit to ending child marriage in one generation – letting girls fulfil their potential for generations to come.

Why is child marriage the focus of the International Day of the Girl? How can we end this harmful practice that affects millions of girls every year? How can advocates and activists – especially young people all around the world – take a stand against child marriage?

On 11 October Mary Robinson, Christy Turlington Burns, experts and activists answered your questions and discussed child marriage in a live online conversation.

“Choices define us and allow us to realise our potential. Child marriage robs girls of this chance.” Desmond Tutu and Graça Machel

Thursday 11 October is the International Day of the Girl. Read more about why child marriage is the focus of the day – and how you can contribute to improving the lives of millions of girls worldwide.

"With or without legislation, we urge the Obama administration to make eliminating child marriage a foreign policy goal."

Writing in the Washington Post, Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu say we are not doing enough to fulfil our responsibility to protect young people from early marriage, and call on the United States government to make tackling child marriage a central focus of its international development agenda.