Child marriage occurs in every region of the world and is practiced across cultures and religions. The highest rates of child marriage observed in Sub-Saharan Africa, in countries such as Niger, the Central African Republic and Chad. However, the largest number of child brides live in South Asia, where 46 percent of girls are married before at the age of 18. Child marriages have been shown to increase as instability increases, making girls living in conflict or crisis settings particularly vulnerable to the practice.
According to the UN, 37,000 girls under the age of 18 are married each day. We now have the greatest number of married girls and girls at-risk of child marriage than ever before 1 in 3 girls in the developing world are married before 18; 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15.
If present trends continue, more than 140 million girls will be married before the age of 18 in the next decade. Globally, almost 400 million women now aged 20-49 were married before the age of 18.
Early marriage is a harmful practice that denies girls their right to make vital decisions about their sexual health and well-being. It forces them out of education and into a life of poor prospects with increased risk of violence, abuse, ill health or early death and will be causes to the whose who married less age. Child marriage is a global circumstance and It is fuelled by gender inequality, poverty, social norms. This also effects on education system because of this they lose their education and they go back.
Child marriage looks different from one community to the next. There is no single solution, actor or sector to end it. we must all work together. Solutions must be local, contextual and integrated. The Girls Not Brides Theory of Change shows the range and combination of approaches needed, and the role everyone has to play.
Hammal Zahid
Kolahoo