A/HRC/41/19 6. Promoting comprehensive humanitarian preparedness and responses, led by humanitarian actors and those in other sectors, on child, early and forced marriage 48. Child, early and forced marriage is a cross-cutting issue that requires preparedness and coordinated responses, with a multisectoral approach. Linking protection concerns with other sectors of intervention in humanitarian settings is key to preventing child, early and forced marriage. 49. In Yemen, a cross-sectoral approach, where protection and education actors collaborate to reach areas where there is a high risk of child marriage, was piloted with support from the UNICEF-UNFPA joint Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage. The holistic approach incorporates life skills, programming, socioeconomic support and access to services to address the needs of women and girls in conflict settings. Plan International reported on a project intended for adolescent girls in north-east Nigeria, where girls at risk of child marriage are identified and the needs of survivors and victims are responded to in a comprehensive manner. It includes better coordination between gender-based violence caseworkers and child protection caseworkers working on cases covering child, early and forced marriage, non-formal education, incomegenerating activities, psychological support through peer mentoring, psychosocial wellbeing and the reintegration of children and young women formerly affiliated with Boko Haram. In addition, UNICEF reported on investing in risk mitigation and integration in other sectors, for example through the strengthening of social services and welfare and capacity-building for case management in a number of countries. 50. Judging from the information received, one of the best approaches to avoid setbacks in combating child marriage in humanitarian settings is to integrate child marriage into emergency preparedness. As such, the identification of girls who are vulnerable to child marriage and sexual violence needs to be incorporated in the general screening process for other concerns in humanitarian protection work (with respect to refugees and migrants). For instance, the development and implementation of the centrality of protection strategies in Somalia and South Sudan has been mentioned as a way to prevent gender-based violence, including child marriage. UNICEF reported that an integrated rapid response mechanism had been set up in South Sudan to assess the risks in remote areas and to strengthen responses to gender-based violence in other sectors, including within the Real-Time Accountability Partnership in South Sudan, an initiative that involves various humanitarian actors. VII. Conclusions and recommendations 51. Child, early and forced marriage is a human rights violation, a harmful practice and a form of gender-based violence. It has a higher incidence in humanitarian contexts, with terrible consequences for the human rights of victims, in particular women and girls. States have international legal obligations to address, prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage, to ensure human rights accountability and to provide redress and services for survivors. Those obligations continue to apply in humanitarian settings. Addressing child, early and forced marriage is a life-saving intervention with lifelong impact, and adequate funding and human resources should be prioritized for this purpose, alongside food, water, shelter and health services. 52. Efforts to address child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian settings must recognize its profound linkages to norms and practices that discriminate against women and girls, which are exacerbated and compounded by the consequences of crises: poverty, displacement, a breakdown of institutions and insecurity. 53. Eliminating child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian settings therefore requires holistic and integrated approaches and coordinated action between all stakeholders and across multiple sectors, including education, child protection, protection against gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights 14