New York - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that child marriage victims are about 12 million girls annually, and statistics indicate that there are approximately 640 million girls around the world who were married before they turned 18, and child marriage has decreased from 21% to 19% since the last estimate 5 years ago.
Despite this decline, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warned that "the world is mired in crises that add to crises that crush the hopes and dreams of vulnerable children, especially girls, who should become students, not brides."
The phenomenon of child marriage
Child marriage is highest in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by South Asia, where one in four girls still marries before the age of 4.
Despite the steady decline in child marriage rates in the last decade, several crises threaten to reverse hard-won gains in this area, including conflicts, climate shocks and the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis released recently by UNICEF.
The latest global estimates indicate that 640 million girls and women living today were married during their childhood (Shutterstock)
Students.. No brides
UNICEF Executive Director Russell said, "The world is mired in crises on top of existing crises that frustrate the hopes and dreams of vulnerable children, especially girls, who should be schoolgirls, not brides. Health and economic crises, escalating armed conflict, and the devastating effects of climate change are forcing families to seek false sanctuary through child marriage. We must do everything we can to ensure children's rights to education and a life of empowerment."
Globally, it is estimated that 640 million girls and women today are married as children, or 12 million girls a year, according to the latest global estimates contained in the analysis. The percentage of those who married in childhood has fallen from 21% to 19% since the last estimate was released five years ago. However, despite this progress, the global decline must be 5-fold faster to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of ending child marriage by 20.
Sub-Saharan Africa, which has the second largest share of the global total number of child brides (20%), needs more than 200 years to end the practice at the current rate of progress. Rapid population growth, coupled with the ongoing crises in the region, appears to be leading to an increase in the number of child brides, as opposed to the expected decline in the rest of the world.
Latin America and the Caribbean is also lagging behind, and is on track to make child marriage the second highest in the world by 2030. The Middle East and North Africa and Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions have stalled after periods of sustained progress.
South Asia continues to push for a global reduction in child marriage and is on track to end it after nearly 55 years, the report notes. However, the region remains home to nearly half (45%) of the world's child brides. While India has made record progress in recent decades, it still has about a third of the global total.
Child marriage isolates girls from their families, girlfriends and schools and harms their mental health and well-being (Shutterstock)
Health and mental damage
Girls who marry in childhood face direct and lifelong consequences, have a lower chance of staying in school, and face a higher risk of early pregnancy, which increases the risk of health complications and deaths among children and mothers.
Also, this practice can isolate girls from their families and friends and exclude them from participating in their communities, causing significant damage to their mental health and well-being.
Globally, conflicts and disasters linked to climate change and the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, particularly rising poverty, income shocks and school dropouts, are driving child marriage drivers and making it difficult for girls to access health care, education, social services and community support, all of which protect them from child marriage.
As a result, child marriage is twice as high for females in difficult situations as for other girls in the world, the analysis suggests. For every 10-fold increase in conflict-related deaths, there is a 7% increase in the number of child marriages. At the same time, extreme weather events caused by climate change increase the risk faced by girls, with every 10% reduction in rainfall associated with an increase of about 1% in the prevalence of child marriage.
The important gains made in ending child marriage in the past decade are also threatened – or even reversed – by the ongoing effects of COVID-19, the analysis warns. It is estimated that the pandemic has reduced the number of preventable cases in child marriage by a quarter since 2020.
Ms. Russell added, "We have demonstrated that progress in ending child marriage is possible. It requires unwavering support for vulnerable girls and their families. "We must focus on keeping girls in school and ensuring they have economic opportunities."
The Corona pandemic has reduced efforts to combat child marriage by a quarter since 2020 (Reuters)
Data from more than 100 countries
Estimates of the regional and global prevalence of child marriage were calculated based on national estimates in UNICEF's global database, which consists of nationally represented data from more than 100 countries.
National data on child marriage are mainly derived from household surveys, including UNICEF-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Demographic and Health Surveys. Demographic data are derived from the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It covers the latest estimates until 2022.