Early marriage denies girls their right to make vital decisions about their sexual health and wellbeing. Child marriage prevalence is the percentage of women 2024 years old who were married or in union before they were 18 years old unicef state of the worlds children, 2017 23% of kenyan girls are married before their 18th birthday and 4% are married before the age of 15. This document highlights the top ten reasons to invest in the unfpa unicef global programme to end child marriage. The highest rates of child marriage are seen in west and central africa, where over four in ten girls were married before age 18. Many factors interact to place a child at risk of marriage, including poverty, the perception that marriage will provide protection, family honor, social norms, customary or religious laws that condone the practice, an inadequate legislative framework and the state of a countrys civil registration system. Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between an adult and a child or another child under age eighteen. Ending child marriage in africa i faced a lot of problems in marriage. Ending child marriage report save the children usa. Still, child marriage is much more common in the developing world because one of the main driving factors is poverty. Subsaharan africa, where 4 in 10 girls are married under the age of 18, and in south asia, where about 30% of girls under 18 are married, have the highest levels of child marriage, according to unicef. Goats and soda a new report cites tremendous progress in bringing down rates of child marriage, especially in india.
Marriage before the age of 18 is a fundamental violation of human rights. Girl child marriage remains a serious problem in lowermiddle income countries with around 650 million 12 million annually women are married under 18 years of age, worldwide unicef, 2018. Jul 25, 2018 child marriage is a violation of human rights. Empowered and educated girls are better able to nourish and care for their children, leading to healthier, smaller families. The key role that unfpa and unicef have played through the gpecm is an important niche. Effects of education and poverty on the prevalence of girl. Approximately 1 in 3 girls in zimbabwe are married before their 18th birthday. Globally, one in every five girls is married, or in union, before reaching age 18. The development of this report was a joint effort with unicef regional and. This is in part because child marriage remains highly prevalent despite efforts by many developing country. Child and early marriage as slavery international institutions mu st explicitly recognise ke y incidences of child and early marriage as constituting slavery and slaverylike practices1 i. By privileging village, tribe, and even family over the state.
Unicef report on early marriage a harmful traditional practice, 2005 2. In the united states, child marriage is still permissible in some states, with parental or judicial consent. Child marriage is commonly abusive other studies have also documented the link between child marriage and domestic violence. The issue is more concentrated in countries of sub saharan africa and south asia. Child marriage is one of the burning problems of indian. Most prominent in west, central, and subsaharan africa niger has highest rate of child marriage.
Unicef is working with the government of malawi to protect girls and boys from sexualized violence including child marriage and other harmful traditional practices. In niger, for instance, 77 per cent of women aged 20 to 49 were married before age 18. Child marriage is still a massive problem in many developing countries. Child marriage, also known as early marriage or forced marriage is a violation of human right united nations, 1989 which adversely impact on girls. Child marriage is most common in the worlds poorest countries and is often concentrated among the poorest households within those countries. Unicef s innocenti research centre published the digest early marriage. Despite laws against it, the practice remains widespread. The human rights agenda helps to view child marriage through the lenses of both civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights covenants. This type of marriage, often called child marriage, is particularly widespread in some regions of the world especially in the subsaharan africa. Handbook on the prohibition of child marriage act, 2006. Globally, the proportion of young women who were married as children decreased by 15 per cent, from 1 in 4 to about 1 in 5. Child marriage is widely considered as a violation of. Child marriage, defined as marriage of a child under 18 years of age, is a silent and yet widespread practice. Introduction child marriage refers to any marriage of a child younger than eighteen years old, in accordance to article 1 of the convention of the right of the child.
Boys are also affected by child marriage but the issue impacts girls in far larger numbers and with more intensity. This donor report summarizes unicef results and activities from 2014 to 2017. Efforts to develop a strategy for scaling up the reduction in child marriage therefore had to go back to the drawing board. Ending child marriage in africa human rights watch. Accelerating the movement to end child, early and forced marriage. Today, over 60 million marriages include girls under the age of 18 years. The paper employed the data set of the sixth round of the ghana demographic and health survey gdhs ten vi. A profile of child marriage and early unions unicef data. The elimination of child marriage by 2030 is a target under the sustainable development goals sdgs. The current law sets the minimum age of marriage at 20 for both men and women. To ensure that child marriage is eradicated from within the society, the government of india enacted the prohibition of child marriage. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence than their peers who marry later. Yet investments to end the practice are limited, and.
Early marriage denies girls their right to make vital. The term child brides is used to refer both to girls under age 18 who are currently married. Drivers child marriage predominantly affects girls who live in poverty and in rural areas. Unicef data and analytics section division of data, research and policy 3 united nations plaza new york, ny 10017, usa email. The development of this report was a joint effort with unicef regional and country offices. The unicef definition of child marriage includes couples who are formally married, or who live together as a sexually active couple in an informal union, with at least one member usually the girl being less than 18 years old. When girls are allowed to be girls, everybody wins. It is closely linked with poverty and low levels of economic development.
Under the law, adults who marry children, family members. The latest comparable figure for the subsaharan africa region suggests an incidence of 39 per cent unicef, 2016. Unfpa unicef global programme to accelerate action to en chil marriage executive summary trends in child marriage over the past decade, child marriage has continued to decline. Unicef data on child marriage shows major drop but critics raise some concerns. Girls most at risk each dot represents a country in every region, the poor are most at risk of child marriage percentage of women aged 20 to 49 years who were married or in union before age 18, by place of residence child marriage is most common in rural areas 100 80. Early marriage is a violation of childrens human rights.
Child marriage also occurs in parts of the middle east, including yemen and the rural maghreb. Aug 27, 2019 however, child marriage occurs in disproportionately high numbers in developing countries. Unicef is a strong and supportive partner in the effort to accelerate the goal to end child marriage, but it requires many partners and organizations to effect change. Child spouses in 2001, exploring both the reasons behind the perpetuation of child marriage and its harmful impact. Child marriage is an egregious violation of every childs right. Unfpa unicef global to accelerate the action to end child marriage contributes to this effort, and focuses on enabling girls at risk of child marriage to choose and direct their own futures. Pashtunwali an informal, oral system of tribal values governing individual and communal behaviour, pashtunwali is defined by its emphasis on community consensus and local decisionmaking. Child, early, and forced marriage globally, the rate of child marriage is declining,8 but the rate of progress is not fast enough. Despite being prohibited by international law, it continues to rob millions of girls under 18 around the world of their childhood.
The unicef statistical study on child marriage confirms that. Child marriage frequently asked questions unfpa united. To ensure that child marriage is eradicated from within the society, the government of india enacted the prohibition of child marriage act, 2006. Globally, according to unicef, 36% of women aged 20 to 24 were married or in a union, forced or consensual, before theyd reached 18. Get the child marriage facts and learn how you can help end it. The international community is committed to eliminating child marriage by 2030, as one of the 17 sustainable development goals sdgs of the united nations. Unicef data on child marriage shows major drop but critics. However, child marriage occurs in disproportionately high numbers in developing countries. Child marriage in the middle east and north africa.
Child marriage, as defined by unicef, is observed in the united states. A major challenge minh cong nguyen and quentin wodon. Child marriages in india the red elephant foundation december 20 e 4 introduction child marriage refers to the marriage of a child younger than 18 years old,1 in accordance to article 1 of the convention on the right of the child. Child marriage also imposes certain social and decision making roles for children who are not physically, mentally or emotionally prepared to fulfill these responsibilities. In the least developed countries, that number doubles 40 per cent of girls are married before age 18, and 12 per cent of girls are married before age 15. In subsaharan africa, a staggering 40 percent of girls marry before age 18, and african countries account for 15 of the 20 countries with the highest rates of child marriage. Locating child marriage as a human rights violation also helps to raise it as a grave public concern rather than a private matter between families. The ministry of gender, children and social protection has also released a resource guide on ending child marriage in ghana and is planning an adolescent summit in 2018. In february 2016, the government launched a national campaign to end child marriage as part of the african union campaign to end child marriage in africa. Child marriages in india office of the united nations.
Child marriage is illegal in nepal and has been since 1963. Unfpaunicef global programme to accelerate action to end. Boys are also married as children, but girls are disproportionately affected. In 2014, unicef, with funding from the government of canada, focused on policy making, community mobilization and evidence generation to end child marriage. A new analysis of available national household surveys for the years 20042014 by the national statistics agency and unicef finds that child marriage in indonesia is increasing in some parts of. Unicef collaborated with the international center for research on women to carry out an indepth districtlevel analysis of the current trends and patterns of child marriage in india. The survey was conducted in 2014 and covered 11,835 households in the. End child marriage, an obstacle to global development this webinar put on by zonta international and unicef usa featured speakers who addressed the multiple drivers of child marriage, and the effects early marriage has on a girls education, health, livelihood opportunities, and her childrens chances for survival and wellbeing. The issue of child marriage is getting renewed attention among policy makers.
Mar 14, 2018 unicef data on child marriage shows major drop but critics raise some concerns. Unicef has partnered with government and researchers to analyze data and identify districts and. A minor in a child marriage can be a girl or a boy, but the large majority of child marriages are between a girl and a man, and are rooted in gender inequality. The target of eliminating child marriage by 2030 is ambitious for a practice so widespread and persistent, but sends a clear message that there can be no tolerable level of child marriage. Percentage of women aged 20 to 49 years who were married or in union before ages. Child marriage is known to take place across a wide range of communities, ethnicities and religions. Marrying as a child compromises a girls development and severely limits her opportunities in life. Still, approximately 650 million girls and women alive today were married before their 18th birthday. Child, early, and forced marriage each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18, marking the start of their lives as wives and mothers well before they are physically or emotionally ready.
Executive summary the issue of child, early and forced marriage and its. Child marriage denies girls their rights and their childhood. In this blogpost, rajnandini mahajan, student, rgnul, punjab writes about the laws on child marriage in india, discusses the laws on child marriage in india. In families with limited resources, child marriage is often seen as a way to provide for their daughters future. Unicefs innocenti research centre published the digest early marriage.
The programme is well aligned to global and regional frameworks and commitments to end child marriage. Child marriage unfpa united nations population fund. The majority of women who married in childhood gave birth before their 18th birthday. Over the last thirty years with unicef in asia, i have encountered the phenomena of child marriage and early marriage on numerous occasions. The global programme targets adolescent girls at risk of child marriage or already in union in 12 selected countries. Child marriage situation in malaysia submission by.
Each day, approximately 37,000 girls under age 18 are married. This brochure explores the data and statistics behind those stories. Ending child marriage will help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by allowing girls and women to participate more fully in society. For china, internationally comparable and nationally representative data on child marriage prevalence have not been available historically. Child marriage as a practice is not new to indian society and culture. Unfpa marrying too young end child marriage report 2012 according to malaysian syariah judiciary department jksm. Unicef has partnered with government and researchers to analyze data and identify districts and communities where child marriage. West and central africa encompasses 6 of the 10 countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage in the world. Unfpaunicef global programme to accelerate action to. Child marriage in the middle east and north africa, united. Child marriages in india office of the united nations high. Previous global estimates implicitly assumed that child marriage in china was as common as in the rest of the region, although it is likely this was an overestimate.
According to unicef, kenya has the 20th highest absolute number of. The the causes, consequences and solutions to causes, consequences and solutions tocauses, consequences and solutions to forced forced forced child marriage child marriage child marriage in the developing worldin the developing world testimony submitted to u. Girls, child marriage, and education in red sea state, sudan. House of representatives human rights commissions human rights commission. An important aim of unicef s child protection programme is.
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