During the month of June, the IDG Summit Team joins Girls Not Brides USA in the fight to end child marriage.

Every day, approximately 37,000 girls under the age of 18 get married. Most of these girls have little or no say in the matter. They are robbed of their youth, their education, their health, and their futures.

Child marriage is a global problem that requires a global solution. That’s why as part of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA), the U.S. Congress directed the State Department to take action to end child marriage around the world.

Now the Girls Not Brides USA coalition and the #Lead4Girls campaign is calling on Secretary of State John Kerry and the U.S. government to turn rhetoric into action.

Please join #Lead4Girls today and tell Secretary Kerry to give all girls a choice, and a chance, for a real future.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Tweet @JohnKerry using the sample messages below or create your own messages urging the Secretary of State to #Lead4Girls and #EndChildMarriage for #IDG2014.

2. Create a selfie with the message “@JohnKerry Please work to #EndChildMarriage and #Lead4Girls!” and post it to your facebook, tumblr, instagram and twitter accounts.

3. Join a Twitter chat on June 11 at 8pm EST!

Sample Tweets:

Girls deserve choices, not forced marriages! @JohnKerry  #Lead4Girls 2 #endchildmarriage so girls worldwide have same chances I do! #IDG2014

.@JohnKerry: Help #endchildmarriage by 2030! Commit the U.S. to #Lead4Girls! #11MonthsofAction

.@JohnKerry: Don’t girls around the world deserve the same opportunities as your daughters? Let’s #lead4girls 2 #endchildmarriage #IDG2014

.@JohnKerry: Don’t girls around the world deserve the same opportunities as me? Let’s #lead4girls 2 #endchildmarriage #11monthsofaction

Pls RT-> Girls like me should be students, not brides! @JohnKerry: support girls’ education to #endchildmarriage #lead4girls #IDG2014

.@JohnKerry Help girls fulfill their dreams! Let girls be girls, not brides. #endchildmarriage #lead4girls #IDG2014

All girls deserve a chance at a real future. @JohnKerry: It’s time to show the world the U.S. can #lead4girls & #endchildmarriage! #IDG2014

Pls RT-> Girls like me should be students, not brides! @JohnKerry: support girls’ education to #endchildmarriage #lead4girls #IDG2014

Child marriage is a violation of girls’ rights & takes away our choices & opportunities; Pls #Lead4Girls & work 2 #endchildmarriage #IDG2014

14M girls r married every year b4 age 18. Girls like me deserve a life they choose. @JohnKerry #endchildmarriage. #lead4girls #IDG2014

.@JohnKerry: Each girl is a universe of potential. Give us choices, opportunities & a chance at a real future. #endchildmarriage #lead4girls

Want to learn more? Visit these websites and tell your friends, family and classmates what you have learned: 

• Girls Not Brides – The Global Partnership to End Child marriage
• Fact sheets & resources
• Video “The world we want: end child marriage”
• Council on Foreign Relations InfoGuide Presentation
• Too Young to Wed photo exhibit