BY BIMPE ADEYEMI
AS the world marks the International Women’s Day, the United Nations Children’s Fund has warned that 10 million additional child marriages may occur before the end of the decade.
UNICEF, in a report released on Monday, said the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic had threatened the progress made in reducing the practice of child marriage.
The report, titled, “COVID-19, a threat to progress against child marriage”, noted that closure of schools, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy and parental deaths, due to the pandemic, were putting the most vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage.
It said, “Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, 100 million girls were at risk of child marriage in the next decade, despite significant reductions in several countries in recent years.
“In the last 10 years, the proportion of young women globally who were married as children had decreased by 15 per cent, from nearly 1 in 4 to 1 in 5, the equivalent of some 25 million marriages averted, a gain that is now under threat.”
Executive Director, UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, noted, “COVID-19 has made an already difficult situation for millions of girls even worse. Shuttered schools, isolation from friends and support networks, and rising poverty have added fuel to a fire the world was already struggling to put out. But we can and we must extinguish child marriage.
“International Women’s Day is a key moment to remind ourselves of what these girls have to lose if we do not act urgently – their education, their health, and their futures.”
According to the UNICEF report, girls who get married in childhood face immediate and lifelong consequences.
It said they were more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to remain in school.
“Child marriage increases the risk of early and unplanned pregnancy, in turn increasing the risk of maternal complications and mortality. The practice can also isolate girls from family and friends and exclude them from participating in their communities, taking a heavy toll on their mental health and well-being,” the report noted.
“COVID-19 is profoundly affecting the lives of girls. Pandemic-related travel restrictions and physical distancing make it difficult for girls to access the health care, social services and community support that protect them from child marriage, unwanted pregnancy and gender-based violence,” it added.
It said as schools remained closed, girls were more likely to drop out of education and not return.
“Job losses and increased economic insecurity may also force families to marry their daughters to ease financial burdens,” the report said.
