The Weekly Pulse

News From Organizations and Coalitions in Advocacy for Children and Young People Globally
Volume 268

March 12, 2026
Quick Summary

Costs of child marriage: A new report released on March 4 by the Women’s Initiative at Columbia SIPA’s Institute of Global Politics and the Center for Global Development (CDG) says child marriage costs the world $175bn per year (see last week’s issue for more information).  CGD published a blog and podcast on the research, noting that the cost of child marriage occurs from increased maternal and child deaths, intimate partner violence, weakened education outcomes, and lost earnings. They cite a new report from Girls Not Brides, Girls First Fund, and Publish What You Fund that shows that funding for projects addressing child marriage as a primary outcome declined between 2019 and 2023, and note that dramatic changes in the development landscape – including declining Official Development Assistance, shifts from bilateral funding for gender, and shifts in the philanthropic sector show that future funding is at risk. While the prevalence of child marriage has decreased from one in four to below one in five since 2017, ending child marriage will require increasing strategic funding by a minimum of $4.3 billion annually for the next five years. See also:
  • Women’s Media Center article, “‘This is not marriage, this is legalized rape’: New Report Outlines Strategies to End Child Marriage Worldwide.”
  • Bloomberg article, “ Sandberg-Backed Study Says Aid Cuts Erode Child Marriage Decline.”
  • Devex article, “Sheryl Sandberg pushes a $175 billion case for ending child marriage.”
  • Save the Children blog, “Goats help girls avoid child marriage as rates rise in Bangladesh.” 
  • Plan International’s new campaign of young leaders fighting child marriage, “We Object.”
  • The Statesman article, “Ending Child Marriage: The Power of Collective Action,” highlighting a new spirit of collaboration on child marriage in India’s child protection sector.
  • Devdiscourse article, “Global Plea for 'World Day for the Elimination of Child Marriage’.”

Farm bill & Food for Peace: The House Agriculture Committee voted on March 5 to advance the farm bill, which First Focus Campaign for Children said “will leave millions of children hungry at home and around the world.” The bill will govern international food security programs and move Food for Peace, which was administered under USAID until the Trump Administration dissolved the agency last year, to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). “As Food for Peace moves to USDA, Congress must ensure the preservation of its lifesaving humanitarian mission, its flexibility in local contexts, its investment in the long-term resilience of affected communities and the prioritization of nutritious food for children,” said Leila Nimatallah, First Focus Campaign for Children’s vice president of advocacy. “Congress also must require the Administration to fully implement McGovern-Dole international school feeding programs, which are crucial to providing nutritious meals to vulnerable children.”

Sign-on letter urges support for International Basic Education in FY27: The Global Campaign for Education-US reports that a bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter, led by Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL5) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA8), urges the allocation of $970 million for global education programs in the FY27 budget.

Call for US policymakers to adopt child impact statements: Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus for Children, posted a new blog noting the lack of a systematic requirement for federal agencies to proactively evaluate how their broader policies might inadvertently harm or uniquely benefit children. He calls for the US to establish a universal Child Impact Statement standard that centers children’s interests in federal laws, rules, regulations, guidance, and practice, and points to a new toolkit from Kids Impact Initiative and UNICEF USA on child and youth-friendly child impact statements.

Middle East conflict: The ongoing military escalation in the Middle East, which started on February 28 with US and Israeli bombing of Iran and retaliatory attacks across the Middle East by Iran, has led to devastating impacts across the region for children.
  • Save the Children said that at least 100 million children in the region ​face deepening fear, distress, and the risk of physical harm and displacement, and reported that almost 300 children were killed in the first ten days of the conflict, “the equivalent to 10 classrooms full of children.” UN agencies estimate that 100,000 people were newly displaced in Iran in the first week of the conflict.
  • According to the New York Times and The Guardian, a preliminary US military investigation found on March 11 that the United States was responsible for the deadly missile strike on an Iranian elementary school that Iranian officials say killed at least 175 people, most of them children. The UN human rights office has called for an investigation. UNICEF said on March 5, “Among the casualties are 168 girls killed when a strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, in southern Iran, on 28 February, while classes were in session. Reports indicate that the majority of those killed were schoolchildren aged between 7 and 12. In addition, 12 children were killed in other schools across five different locations in Iran.” ProPublica reports that the Pentagon had been working on a plan to avoid civilian deaths that was heading toward implementation until Trump officials waylaid it last year.
  • Israel’s mass evacuation orders and bombing campaign have displaced nearly 700,000 people in Lebanon as of 10 March (UN News, New York Times), with World Vision estimating on March 6 that 29,000 children were among the 83,000 displaced in the first four days.  Save the Children warned on March 5 that the evacuation orders could result in a humanitarian catastrophe, saying, “‘Forced displacement strips children of almost everything that keeps them safe: shelter, education, community and routine. In their place come fear and the risk of violence, abuse and exploitation.” On March 9, the UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa said, “According to the latest reports, at least 83 children have been killed and 254 wounded since 2 March, as hostilities have intensified. On average, more than 10 children have been killed every day across Lebanon over the past week, with approximately 36 children injured each day.” Plan International’s Director of Programmes for Lebanon and Syria said on March 9, “This emergency is traumatic for people on the ground – especially children, girls and young women, who face heightened vulnerability in shelters and amid displacement. We are also already seeing significant disruption to education because of school closures.”
  • The conflict is also affecting Afghan refugees fleeing Iran, where up to 2.6 million Afghan refugees live. UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, Dr. Tajudeen Oyewale, said on March 10, “We are already seeing too many mothers arriving at reception centers with their children, looking exhausted, overwhelmed and in need of immediate support. If arrivals increase as expected, the risks facing children will grow as well.” The New Humanitarian notes that the refugees’ return to Afghanistan would put them at risk of coming under Pakistani fire due to ongoing Pakistan-Afghanistan hostilities.
  • Experts are also warning that aid access in Gaza remains severely restricted and food rations may have to be reduced; funding shortages threaten the capacity to respond to displacement; and the war and disruption to global supply chains could lead to food shortages, aid disruptions, and massive economic setbacks in the region and more broadly (Read more from the World Food Programme, The New York Times, The New Humanitarian, UN News, and the Better World Campaign). The head of the International Organization for Migration urged Europe to prepare for a new wave of migration from the region. The International Rescue Committee notes that the conflict in the Middle East also has ripple effects on other crises, saying, “As attention and resources shift to the latest war in a world not short of crises, the catastrophic emergencies in places like Sudan and Gaza risk slipping further down the global agenda. That is dangerous, because those crises are not getting better—not only exacerbated by the knock-on effects of this war with Iran, but by diplomatic and financial neglect.”
  • The Council on Foundations offered legal guidance, background information, and suggested funding avenues for funders interested in providing aid or support to people affected by the war.

The impact of foreign assistance cuts on children: Several organizations and news outlets have recently reported on the impact of U.S. and other foreign assistance cuts on children. The reporting and analysis highlight severe and life-threatening consequences, rapid reversal of decades of progress, and increasing threats to the well-being of generations to come.
  • Leila R. Milani, Program Director, Global Policy & Advocacy for Futures Without Violence, blogged about the impact of the structural reset of US foreign assistance, which has placed the global architecture that supports women and girls under real strain. She notes that the changes have reduced funding for key gender equality accounts, created uncertainty in personnel and infrastructure, and generated ambiguity in strategic prioritization. Futures Without Violence advocates that the recent 25% reductions in funding should be restored to previous levels, Congress should demand that funding be paired with clear strategy and accountability, prevention must be explicitly protected, and multilateral gender infrastructure must be supported.
  • The Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies, the Global Education Cluster, and the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies published “In Their Own Words: Students, teachers and frontline education providers on the devastating impact of aid cuts.” The report highlights how the funding cuts led to the closure of learning centres and schools, reduced the availability of teachers, created a lack of critical learning supplies, and reduced children’s access to other essential services, including healthcare, protection, sanitation, and food.
  • NPR reports that aid cuts have caused organizations working to end violence against women and girls to scale back life-saving services or shut down completely in the past year, and that Trump Administration policies have made efforts to end violence against women “kind of radioactive.”
  • Devex reports that the termination of USAID’s Adolescent Reproductive Health program has led to higher maternal mortality rates and increases in early marriage in Nepal.
  • El Pais illustrates in comics the personal impact of global aid cuts on three women from Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Colombia.
  • Devex published an opinion piece by Brian Frantz, a former USAID senior foreign service officer, arguing that the dismantling of USAID “was not about making U.S. development and humanitarian assistance ‘better,’ and “Instead of engaging in the rather insular debate about how future U.S. foreign assistance should be structured and managed to deliver better development outcomes, [the development community needs] to recognize that we’re in a battle for the ‘soul’ of U.S. foreign policy.”
Don’t miss the most recent “Last Week Tonight” from John Oliver, in which he offers scathing and insightful commentary on USAID’s demise that will make you both laugh and cry.

​Spotlight

International Women’s Day and CSW

The international community marked International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls,” followed by the opening of the 70th meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on March 9. Several organizations issued statements, and news outlets covered the developments:
  •  In a Devex exclusive, veteran UN reporter Column Lynch describes internal notes of talks about the CSW outcome document that reveal the US opposed numerous proposals related to violence against women, including proposals creating a reparations fund for female victims of violence and regulating artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies that can potentially fuel misinformation and hate speech targeting women and girls. Devex also reports that the US delegation attempted to strike out words such as gender equality, gender-based violence, and “anything that came close to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion,” and pushed for a shorter, consensus declaration avoiding any language that the US and some of its conservative allies opposed. Health Policy Watch reported that the US also wanted references to climate change and a gender-responsive justice sector removed. 
  • According to Health Policy Watch, these efforts were largely not successful, and on March 10, the US was the only country to vote against the final declaration.  CSW chair Maritza Chan Valverde from Costa Rica said the agreed conclusions “seek to create justice systems that work for everyone equally.” Health Policy Watch reports that the final text focuses strongly on justice for survivors of gender-based violence, including integrating gender-responsive access to justice across sectors, formally recognising community justice actors, and introducing new language on digital justice and AI governance aimed at protecting women and girls. The text also strengthens standardised systems for gender-based violence data and promotes a whole-of-society approach that recognises civil society’s role.
  • Shannon Kowalski reported on LinkedIn on March 8 that the first part of the UN Women and UNFPA Merger Assessment, analyzing the two organizations side by side, was released (see last week’s Issue 267 for background on the merger). She notes that the document acknowledges the differences between the two organizations’ scales, cost structures, and programmes; that there are few overlaps; and that the two organizations play distinct but mutually-reinforcing roles. She argues that this undercuts one of the core arguments for the merger, and pursuing a merger seems misguided.
  • The International Rescue Committee called for urgent action at CSW to reach women and girls in fragile humanitarian settings, noting that needs are higher than ever while funding is shrinking. Kelly Razzouk, Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, said: “Leaders attending the Commission have an opportunity to go beyond rhetoric and pledge both their political support and the resources required to reach women in humanitarian crises … without sustained funding and political will, millions of women and girls will continue to be left behind.”
  • Hope and Homes for Children shared an IWD blog by Senior Strategic Research Partner Victoria Olarte, reflecting on the care burden carried by women, particularly in times of crisis and conflict, which expose and deepen existing inequalities and turn fragile care and protection systems into failing systems.  
  • Together for Girls argues that ending violence against girls – especially sexual violence – would have a profound impact on global health, education, and GDP. They make the case that protecting girls from sexual violence requires understanding the drivers, nature, and consequences of violence against girls, and highlights the need for quality, disaggregated data. 
  • The Campaign for Global Education-US highlighted the participation of a delegation of high school students in CSW, noting that girls' voices belong in every room where decisions are made about their education and their lives. They say, “This year’s CSW theme is inseparable from the right to education. Around the world, structural barriers still deny girls access to school, especially in conflict and emergency situations… When girls cannot access education, they are shut out of economic opportunity, political participation, and the ability to advocate for their own rights.”
  • The Women’s Refugee Commission notes in a blog outlining their CSW agenda that “travel bans, visa restrictions, and violent immigration enforcement in the US, along with the resurgence of conflict in Iran and the region, mean that women from the world’s worst humanitarian crises—including those in Afghanistan, Palestine, and Sudan—will be unable to attend.” They continue, “We must stand in solidarity with those who are most impacted by displacement and injustice, carrying their voices with us into the halls of power where conversations are taking place about their futures.”
EVENTS
  • NEW: Asia Network to End FGM/C, Sahiyo, Sisterhood Initiative, Women’s Health Foundation, ARROW, and Orchid Project parallel CSW online event, “Access to Justice for FGM/C Survivors: Harm, Justice and Healing.” March 13.
  • NEW: Government of Uganda, Government of Ethiopia, and Baobab RPC in-person CSW event, “Asking and Telling: A screening intervention for enhancing access for girl survivors of sexual violence in humanitarian and development settings in the East and Horn of Africa.” March 13. New York, USA.
  • Islamic Relief USA, Building Markets, ChildFund Alliance, Innovations for Poverty Action, Near East Foundation, and Women for Women International virtual and in-person CSW side event, "From Crisis to Resilience: Advancing the Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls in Fragile and Post-Crisis Contexts." March 13, New York, USA, and online.
  • Womankind Worldwide and partners in-person CSW side event, “Disrupting the Continuum of Online Violence.” 12:30-2:00 March 13. Salvation Army Auditorium, New York, USA. For more information, contact [email protected].
  • NEW: UNESCO High-level in-person event, “High-level launch of the 2026 GEM Report Countdown to 2030: Access and equity.” March 25. Paris, France
  • Georgetown Collaborative on Global Children's Issues in-person workshop, “Intergenerational Perspectives on Moral Leadership Workshop.” March 13-14. Washington, DC, USA.
  • Child Rights International Network first session of the “Children and Democracy Network,” a global community of practice designed to connect practitioners, advocates, and researchers working at the intersection of children’s rights, democracy, civic education, and intergenerational fairness. March 17. 
  • The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action report launch, “The Impact of Funding Cuts on Children and their Protection across Humanitarian Contexts: An Analysis One Year On.” March 18.
  • Spring Impact and International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect webinar, “What It Takes to Scale Prevention: Lessons from Child Sexual Abuse Solutions.” March 18.
  • NEW: UNGEI, UNESCO, and UNICEF webinar, “School-Related Gender-Based Violence: A Must End for Equal and Safe Societies.” March 18.
  • NEW: ARROW, Regional Commissions New York Office, and the Women’s Major Group, in collaboration with UN Women, in-person CSW parallel event, “Unlocking Access to Justice: Strengthening Justice Systems to Advance Accountability for Universal Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.” March 18. New York, USA.
  • Protect Children and OFCOM webinar, “Protecting Children Online: New Evidence on CSAM Perpetrators and Digital Platform Use.” March 18.
  • NEW: Moving Minds Alliance and Results Canada dialogue and co-creation webinar, “Uniting Sectors for Integrated Nutrition and Holistic Early Childhood Development in Crises.” March 18.
  • NEW: The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action webinar, “Online Recruitment of Children into Armed Groups: Trends, Legal Implications and Prevention Strategies.” March 19.
  • NEW: Child Partnership in-person lunch event, “The State of the World’s Children: A conversation about safety, education, and what it takes for children around the world to grow and thrive.” March 19. Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, USA.
  • Girl Rising and Rise Up Together in-person CSW official side event, “Justice Begins Here: Redefining Power, Voice, and Community Norms.” March 20.
  • NEW: The Arch Collaborative and Equimundo webinar, “The Backlash Blueprint: Who’s Turning Men Against Equality - And What Should be Done?”, a data-driven overview of how and why men and boys (particularly young men) are being intentionally mobilized against gender equality. March 23.
  • PMNCH conference, “International Maternal Newborn Health Conference 2026.” March 23-26. Nairobi, Kenya. 
  • NEW: To Zero community gathering, an informal space for people working across the field of childhood sexual violence to connect and reflect. March 24.
  • NEW: Global Parenting Initiative webinar, “Supporting Parents Under Pressure: Integrating Parenting and Psychosocial Support in Crisis Settings.” March 28.
  • NEW: Comparative and International Education Society annual conference, “Re-examining Education and Peace in a Divided World.” March 28 - April 1. San Francisco, CA. 
  • United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum. April 14-16. New York, USA.
  • Global Youth-Led Movement on Ending Violence Against Children youth-led summit in preparation for the 2nd Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, “Youth-Led Summit on Ending Violence Against Children.” April 14-16, Rizal, Philippines 
  • Ariadne European Funders for Social Change and Human Rights annual reconnect conference, “When the ground shifts: Philanthropy with Purpose.” April 14-16. Bologna, Italy.
  • Women Deliver 2026 conference, April 27-30. Melbourne, Australia.
  • RightsCon annual conference, May 5-8. Zambia and online.
  • Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), together with the Government of Rwanda, UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, and the Africa Early Childhood Network conference, “Investing in the Early Years: A Global Technical Financing Forum.” May 6-8. Kigali, Rwanda.
  • United Nations live event and webcast, “International Day Of Families 2026: Families, Inequalities and Child Wellbeing.” May 15.
  • UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; South Africa; British International Investment; and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation conference, “Global Partnerships Conference,” on the future of international development to drive shared growth and prosperity and tackle global challenges head-on. May 19-20, London, UK.
  • Equimundo and WOW – Women of the World conference, “MenCare Changemaker Summit 2026.” May 27-30, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 
  • The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action 2026 Annual Meeting for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action: Child Protection in a Resource-Constrained World. June 8-11. Online. 
  • Governments of Italy and Nigeria, and the Global Partnership for Education, conference, “Multiply Possibility - Global Education Summit 2026.” June 9, Rome, Italy.
  • Eurochild 2026 Conference on Social Protection Systems. June 16–17. Paphos, Cyprus.
  • Government of Uganda and IPSCAN policy forum, “Africa Regional Rise Up Policy Forum and Huddle.” June 24-26, Kampala, Uganda.
  • ISPCAN conference, “Transforming Approaches to Safety and Healing.” August 24-27. Melbourne, Australia.
  • Sexual Violence Research Initiative Forum 2026. October 5-9. Bangkok, Thailand. Abstracts due January 30.
  • Second Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, November 2026. Manila, Philippines.

LEARN MORE

​​​Blogs, articles, and statements
  • Bond article, “Landmark study shows progress and persistent challenges for girls’ development.”
  • Center for International Policy blog, “Parenthood, Surrogacy and the Labor of Childbirth.”
  • Women’s Refugee Commission blog series, “In Her Own Words,” sharing first-person accounts of women living in the world’s most urgent humanitarian crisis zones.
  • First Focus Campaign for Children press release, “125 Organizations Urge Lawmakers to Prioritize Children Before Vote on DHS Funding.”
  • Devex article, “Get ready to push back against the government, US NGOs told“
  • Hope and Homes for Children and Lumos, Joint Statement on the UN Human Rights Council’s Annual Day on the Rights of the Child, “Reunite and protect: Upholding the Rights of Children Deprived of Family Care in Armed Conflict.”
  • Center for Humane Technology explainer, “What a Global Study of 500 People Across 50 Countries Found About AI and Kids.” 

Papers, reports, and resources
  • Safe to Learn Knowledge Hub: Evidence, guidance, and practical tools to ensure that every child is safe to learn.
  • Thrive Child Evidence newsletter, “Scaling Early Childhood Development – what to read this month,” highlighting recent advances in research, materials, tools, and practices related to how to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate scalable early childhood development programmes in low- and middle-income countries worldwide.
  • Child Rights Information Network report, “Children’s Access to Environmental Justice in the EU.”
  • ECPAT, INTERPOL, and UNICEF report, “Disrupting Harm in Brazil: Evidence on technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse.” 
  • Transnationalism Institute report chapter, “Weaponising Gender: How gender became the perfect scapegoat for far-right and authoritarian actors.”
  • Final report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse of children to the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
  • The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) resource, “AI Evidence Playbook,” a practical reference for policymakers, practitioners, and donors investing in or developing AI-enabled programs. 

Opportunities
  • Moving Minds Alliance 2026–2027 Early Childhood Development in Crisis (ECDiC) Research Fellowship Program call for applications, supporting local researchers in low‑ and middle‑income countries who are advancing evidence on young children and their caregivers living in crisis contexts. Deadline: March 31.
  • Child Rights Information Network expression of interest to join the Children and Democracy Network, a global community of practice designed to connect practitioners, advocates, and researchers working at the intersection of children’s rights, democracy, civic education, and intergenerational fairness. 
  • Iris Project call for applications for the Iris Prize 2026, supporting young people working on solutions for nature with flexible funding and practical support.  Deadline April 8.

Watch & Listen
  • Center for Global Development podcast, “Tackling Child Marriage with Imran Matin and Kehinde Ajayi.”
  • Devex Pro briefing recording, “Can philanthropy fill the aid gap? 5 reality checks.” 
  • Sexual Violence Research Initiative podcast, “Missing from the Data: The Invisible Crisis of Sexual Violence Against LGBTQI+ Youth.”
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The Initiative's weekly newsletter is a collection of updates on coalitions, networks, and organizations that advocate for the U.S. government to support children and young people globally.
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