Wellington/The Hague/New York:

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) applauds the Parliament of New Zealand’s dedicated, cross-party endorsement to PGA’s Global Parliamentary Declaration to End Child, Early and Forced Marriage. A total of 104 Parliamentarians from the National, Labour, Green, and First Parties have now signed the Declaration, making New Zealand the only country to surpass 100 signatures. PGA Members Dr. Kennedy Graham, Su’a William Sio, Annette King, Nanaia Mahuta, Dr. Nick Smith, Damien O’Connor, Trevor Mallard, Ruth Dyson and Phil Goff joined their colleagues in the endorsement.

The Co-Chairpersons of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) New Zealand Group, Louisa Wall MP and Jo Hayes MP collected the signatures from across parties, receiving over 100% endorsement from the Labour, Green and First Parties, and 80% endorsement from the National Party.  Highlighting the importance of women and girls’ equality to their agenda, Louisa Wall stressed the importance of ending child marriages:

The reason I signed PGA's Global Parliamentary Declaration to End Child, Early and Forced Marriage is because I support the principle that consenting adults should marry and form families and are the basis of a cohesive and nurturing society. Child Marriage is the abuse of girls and young women and perpetuates their unequal status.  This is intolerable in modern democratic societies. My colleagues share my sentiments and as a Parliament I am very proud that we are clear about this modern suffrage struggle. We will do all we can to address this issue in New Zealand.”

To date, PGA’s Global Parliamentary Declaration to End Child Marriage has been endorsed by 729 Members of Parliament from 77 countries around the globe.  The Declaration calls for the implementation and monitoring of target 5.3: To eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation in the post-2015 development agenda, which was adopted by UN Member States on September 25, 2015.

In a ceremony co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Canada, Tanzania, Ghana and Zambia, PGA presented the Parliamentary Declaration to Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly and a long-time PGA member, on October 12, 2015 as part of the activities planned to celebrate International Day of the Girl Child.