The brief entitled, ‘Is an End to Child Marriage Within Reach? Latest Trends and Future Prospects,’ added that a combination of global crises fuel the phenomenon.
This new analysis underscores how the interplay of conflicts, climate shocks and the persisting effect of COVID-19 put the gains made in eliminating child marriage at risk, especially in areas like sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Alongside the publication, two reports were also released with a focus on South Asia and India, the region and country that are home to the largest number of child brides, as well as a comment on the findings published in The Lancet.
Key findings from the analyses include that the practice of child marriage has continued to decline globally, as 20 per cent of young women aged 20 to 24 years, today, was married as a child against 25 per cent a decade ago.
“Global progress has been driven by declines in India, though, the country alone still accounts for one-third of the world’s child brides, a share equal to the next 10 countries combined.
“In the past 25 years, 68 million child marriages have been averted; but progress has not been equitable, as girls from the richest households represent three times as many of the averted cases as girls from the poorest households,” it added.
To end child marriage, the statement noted that progress must be 20 times faster. “At the present pace, still, over nine million girls will marry in the year 2030, with a growing number of child brides in Sub-Saharan Africa, and it will take another 300 years until child marriage is eliminated worldwide,” the report said.
