Vernacularising Prevention: The Translation of UN Child Marriage Strategies in the Syrian Conflict: A qualitative Document Analysis of Global Policy Adaptation in a Protracted Crisis Setting

The thesis examines how United Nations child marriage prevention strategies are translated from global policy frameworks into local practice in post-2011 Syria. While global frameworks developed by UNFPA and UNICEF assume the existence of stable legal systems, functioning institutions and predictable social environments, the Syrian conflict has produced conditions that fundamentally alter how prevention is understood and implemented. Using qualitative document analysis of UN policy texts, evaluations and humanitarian assessments, the study explores how global strategies are reframed and constrained within a protracted crisis setting. The analysis applies the theoretical lens of vernacularisation to trace how international norms are reshaped by local actors, humanitarian organisations and community intermediaries. Findings show that global rights-based messages are frequently reframed through humanitarian logics emphasising protection, safety, and survival. Prevention is rarely implemented as as standalone priority; instead, child marriage interventions are integrated into multisectoral programming in gender-based violence, health and education. The study demonstrates that, under conditions of legal fragmentation, economic collapse and widespread insecurity, global prevention frameworks cannot be directly transferred but are negotiated, adapted and often significantly transformed. The thesis contributes to research on norm translation by highlighting the limits of universal policy models in crisis contexts and the central role of humanitarian vernacularisation in shaping implementation outcomes.