WEA advocates against forced religious conversion and child, early and forced marriage

Geneva, Switzerland – 8 July 2026

During the 62^nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (June 2026), a resolution on the topic of Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) was negotiated. This important text aimed to continue the work laid out in previous resolutions on this topic, assessing the factors leading to forced marriage and providing the framework to further prevent CEFM across the world. Such resolutions are one of the main outputs of the council and provide a common ground for states to work on a certain issue; they set international norms and standards and can lead to concrete steps taken up by States following the text’s guidance. Therefore, it is important that such resolutions accurately portray situations in their complexity.

In the context of CEFM, the WEA was concerned that the 2026 resolution, contrary to the previous 2023 text, did not contain language which addressed the issue of forced religious conversion resulting of, or conducive to, forced marriage.  This omission was particularly concerning given the ongoing challenges in south Asia and west Africa especially, where girls from religious minority communities have been subjected to abduction, forced conversion, and forced marriage, often to significantly older men. These girls frequently face abuse and exploitation.

The WEA proposed the reintroduction of language addressing this issue. Working in collaboration with other stakeholders, the WEA Geneva Office helped secure the inclusion of a revised version of the proposed paragraph in the final resolution. The paragraph reads as follows:

Deeply concerned by reports of forced religious conversion and by forced marriage of women and girls, strongly condemning attacks on and abductions of women and girls, including by armed groups, urging States to protect them from attacks (…).

The resolution was adopted by consensus on the 7^th of July during the final decisions phase of the Council. This addition represents an important step forward and will provide a valuable advocacy tool in encouraging affected governments to strengthen legal and policy measures to protect young women and girls from religious minority communities.

You can find the full text of the resolution here.

The WEA Geneva Office is committed to continuing to speak up for the most vulnerable, representing an evangelical voice at the halls of power, and advocating for human rights and freedom of religion or belief for all.