Baseline study on the use of evidence in the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage in South Asia Format Background The UNFPA–UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage (GPECM) promotes the rights of adolescent girls to avert marriage and pregnancy, and enables them to achieve their aspirations through education and alternative pathways. The strategic objective of the GPECM is to accelerate action to address child marriage by enhancing investments in and support for unmarried and married girls and by making visible the corresponding benefits; by engaging key actors, including young people as agents of change in catalysing shifts towards positive gender norms; by increasing political support, resources, positive policies and frameworks; and by improving the data and evidence base.