Worldwide half mn girl child vulnerable to early marriage: Report
Around 500,000 more girls are at the risk of being forced into child marriage globally and as much as one million more are anticipated to be pregnant in 2020 consequently of the monetary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a study from the Save the kids revealed the information.
The increase comes on the surface of the previously estimated rates of child marriage, which already anticipated 12 million girls having into marriage this season.
While this increase represents a conservative estimate, it marks a substantial surge in child marriage rates with an expected spike in teenage pregnancies and school dropouts to follow. The increase is defined to reverse 25 years of progress, which saw child marriage rates decline.
Up to 2.5 million additional girls are anticipated to marry over another five years and alongside the 58.4 million child marriages occurring on average every five years, this amounts to an astounding 61 million child marriages by 2025, said a press release from Save the kids International.
“The pandemic means more families are being pushed into poverty, forcing many girls to work to aid their own families, to go without food, to become the primary caregivers for sick family members, also to drop out of school with much less of a chance than boys of ever returning,” said Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the kids International.
In line with the report, 78.6 million child marriages have been prevented during the last 25 years around the world but even prior to the coronavirus, progress to get rid of the practice had slowed to a halt.
The report titled ‘Global Girlhood Report 2020: COVID-19 and progress in peril’ premiered on October 12.
Despite significant progress recently, Bangladesh has the highest prevalence of child marriage in South Asia and ranks among 10 countries in the world with the best levels, said UNICEF on Wednesday.
A new UNICEF report demands accelerated action to get rid of child marriage in Bangladesh by 2030.
The report “Ending Child Marriage: A Profile of Progress in Bangladesh” premiered on Wednesday at a virtual event that was attended by representatives from the UN, the federal government, Development Partners and Adolescent Clubs.
