According to┬а the тАШCOVID-19: A threat to progress against Child MarriageтАЩ report compiled by UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) COVID-19 impact could result in additional 10 Million Child Marriages in the next decade (2020-30).
- The study stated that in the past decade (2010-20), the proportion of young women married as children had declined by 15% globally (from one in four to one in five).
- The report was released ahead of the International WomenтАЩs Day on March 8, 2021.
Factors causing Child Marriage
The study states that school closures, economic stress, pregnancy & parental deaths due to pandemic┬аare putting vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage.
Averting Child Marriage
The study has listed some measures to avert Child Marriages. They are
- Reopening Schools
- Implementing legal reforms
- Ensure access to health and social services to protect families.
Child Marriages – India
UN body said persistence of child marriage remains a potential challenge to India achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 by 2030 even as its progress has been one of the strongest among countries in South Asia during the last decade.
The analysis said findings from NFHS surveys between 1992-93 and 2015-16 show the percentage of young women who married in childhood has halved (from 54 to 27 %), and the pace of decline has increased in the last decade.
The decline has been led by urban areas, which only had 18 % of women in the age group of 20-24 reporting (in 2015-16) тАУ as compared to 32 % in rural areas тАУ having got married before the age of 18.
Child Marriages – Region-wise
The report states that around 650 Million Girls & Women who are alive today were married in childhood.
- Half of such Girls & Women are in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India and Nigeria.
Note – In its previous report, UNICEF said one in three of the worldтАЩs child brides live in India.
Ending Child Marriage – UN SDG┬а
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals has set a target to end Child Marriage by 2030.
- The goals include 10 Million girls who┬аare at present affected by it and also the 100 million girls at risk of becoming child brides before the start of the pandemic.
Recent Related News:
i.On 27th August 2020, UNICEF released a Report which states that at least a third of the worldтАЩs school children i.e 463 million children couldnтАЩt not access remote learning amid the closure of schools due to COVID-19 pandemic.
About UNICEF:
Established – 11 December 1946
Tagline – For Every Child
Director, Secretary of the Executive Board – Mr. Gilles Fagninou
