Bangladesh tops South Asia in child marriage: Unicef
Bangladesh has the highest prevalence of child marriage in South Asia and the eighth highest prevalence in the world, according to a Unicef report released today.
Over 51 percent of young women in Bangladesh were married in childhood, it said.
According to the report, which used the data from the Bangladesh 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, approximately 34.5 million women in Bangladesh were married before they turned 18, and over 13 million women were married before they turned 15.
This is a staggering number, said Sheldon Yett, Unicef representative to Bangladesh, calling for urgent actions to protect girls
He also urged the concerned authorities to ensure they have the opportunity to grow up to their fullest potential.
"Children should not be married. Millions of girls are being robbed of their childhood and denied their fundamental rights," he said.
Although South Asia continues to drive global reductions in child marriage and is on pace to eliminate it in about 55 years, the region remains home to nearly half (45 percent) of the world's child brides.
India has recorded significant progress in recent decades, but it still accounts for one-third of the global total. Sub-Saharan Africa is over 200 years away from ending the practice at its current pace.
The positive trend in tackling child marriage has stagnated in the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.
Latin America and the Caribbean are also falling behind and are on course to have the second-highest regional level of child marriage by 2030.
The report noted that worldwide, conflict, climate-related disasters, and the ongoing impacts of Covid-19 are hampering the drive against child marriage, making it difficult for girls to access health care, education, social services, and community support that protect them from child marriage.
Although the share of young women who married in childhood has declined from 21 percent to 19 percent since the last estimates were released five years ago, global reductions would have to be 20 times faster to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of ending child marriage by 2030.
"The world is engulfed by crises on top of crises that are crushing the hopes and dreams of vulnerable children, especially girls who should be students, not brides. We need to do everything in our power to ensure that their rights to an education and empowered lives are secured," said Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell.
"We've proven that progress to end child marriage is possible. It requires unwavering support for vulnerable girls and families. We must focus on keeping girls in school and making sure they have economic opportunities," he added.
Worldwide, an estimated 640 million girls and women alive today were married in childhood, or 12 million girls per year, the report said.
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