Watch: Around the world, over 14 million girls under the age of 18 are married every year. Thanks to the efforts of the foundation and our grantee CINI, Kajal Bhagat is pursuing her education instead.

Early marriage is a human rights crisis—denying young girls their childhoods, exposing them to adverse health outcomes and violating their fundamental right to pursue their own destinies. Through global partnerships with NGOs, governments and champions of girls and women, the Ford Foundation is helping to break this cycle.

At the Clinton Global Initiative in 2011, we made a commitment to accelerate the change necessary to end child marriage in a generation. Over the past two years, we have seen steady progress. Together with our partners we are bringing greater visibility, resources and grounded solutions to this issue, and providing real alternatives for girls and communities that value girls in their own right—not solely as wives and mothers to be.

At the Clinton Global Initiative this week, we came together with some of these partners—including The Elders, the NoVo Foundation and Girls not Brides—to rededicate our efforts and ensure that ending child marriage is a global priority. Together, we have an opportunity and obligation to make a measurable, meaningful difference in the lives of millions of girls.