In the region, there were 290 million child brides...
In the world, South Asia has the highest number of child brides as increased financial pressure and school expenses due to covid families forces their daughters to get married, according to new estimates released by UNICEF.
In the region there were 290 million child brides, which is 45 percent of the global total, on Wednesday the Children’s Agency of the United Nations said, calling for more efforts to stop the practice.
The fact that South Asia has the highest child marriage burden in the world is nothing short of tragic,” Noala Skinner, UNICEF’s regional director for South Asia, said in a statement.
Child marriage ruins the girl’s future and stops them from learning new skills, putting their health and well-being at risk. Every girl who gets married as a child is one girl too many.”
A new study by the agency that also included interviews and discussions across 16 locations in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal found that many parents saw marriage as the best option for daughters who had limited options to study during COVID lockdowns.
In India the legal age of marriage for women is 18, 20 in Nepal, 16 in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and also 16 in Afghanistan and Pakistan except for Sindh province, where the minimum age is 18.
The UN also found that during the pandemic due to financial issues families were pushed to marry their daughters young in view of reducing cost from home.
The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.