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Despite the fact that child marriage has steadily decreased over the past 10 years, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that a number of crises, including as war, climatic shocks, and the lingering effects of the coronavirus epidemic, pose a threat to undo recent progress.
is its most recent report. current trends and forecasts for the future According to Unicef, compared to roughly one in four ten years earlier, one in five young women, ages 20 to 24, were married as infants.
Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell stated in a statement that
"Health and economic problems, intensifying armed conflicts, and the devastation caused by climate change are driving families to look for a false feeling of safety through child marriage. Their rights to an education and an independent life must be protected, she continued.
Girls who get married as children suffer immediate and enduring repercussions. According to Unicef, they are less likely to finish school and have a higher chance of getting pregnant young, which raises the danger of issues with infant and maternal health as well as death.
The practise can have a negative impact on girls' mental health and wellbeing by isolating them from their families, friends, and communities and preventing them from engaging in local activities.
The research highlights global advancement, mostly due to a drop in India, despite the fact that this nation continues to have the highest proportion of child brides in the world.
The analysis notes that progress is also visible in other contexts, such as in populous nations where the practise has historically been widespread, like nations with lower rates of child marriage that are getting closer to banning the practise, like the Maldives and Rwanda.
According to Unicef, these nations’ experiences show that development is feasible under a range of circumstances.
Nevertheless, they frequently have things in common, such as advancements in economic development, a decline in poverty, increased employment opportunities, and secondary school graduation rates.
Here are some important details regarding child marriage in In South Asia, one in four young women were married or in a partnership for the first time before turning 18;
South Asian child brides are more likely to come from low-income families, have less education, and live in rural regions;
In the area, three out of four child brides give birth when they are still teenagers;
South Asia is leading the globe in efforts towards eliminating child marriage, yet the great majority of young brides there are not in school.
Conflict, natural disasters brought on by climate change, and COVID-19’s ongoing effects, particularly rising poverty, income shocks, and school dropout, all contribute to the global rise in child marriage while making it more challenging for girls to access thethey need.
Child marriages have increased by 7% for every 10 fold rise in mortality from armed conflict. The probability of child marriage also rises when extreme weather occurs as a result of climate change, with every 10% variation in rainfall being associated with an increase of about 1% in the rate.
According to the report, COVID-19’s continuing effects pose a danger to the significant progress made in the last 10 years to eliminate child marriage. prevented starting in 2020 is thought to have been decreased by a fifth as a result of the epidemic.