According to new statistics released by the United Nations, South Asia has the highest rate of child brides in the world.
According to the British news agency Reuters, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF released data on Wednesday showing that 290 million child brides, or 45 percent of the world’s, are in the South Asian region.
UNICEF’s South Asia Director, Noala Skinner, said in a statement that ‘marriage at an early age deprives girls of education, endangers their health and well-being, and compromises their future. Is.’
In a new study carried out by UNICEF, interviews and discussions were conducted with various people in 16 locations in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, which showed that many parents have little access to girls due to the limited resources of education during the lockdown in Corona. Marriage was the best option.
According to UN research, financial pressure during the global pandemic also forced parents to marry off girls to reduce household expenses.
Unicef, while explaining the solution to the problem of child marriage, suggested that social security measures should be taken to combat poverty and that every child’s right to education should be protected and the law should be enforced.
“We need to do more and strengthen partnerships to empower girls through education, equip girls with skills, and empower communities,” says Bjorn Andersen, regional director of the United Nations Population Fund. There is a need to support them so that together they can solve this problem which has deep roots in the society.’
It should be noted that under the law in Nepal, the minimum age of marriage for girls is 20, while in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh it is 18 and in Afghanistan it is 16.
According to the law of Pakistan, the minimum age of marriage for girls is 16 years while in Sindh province it is 18 years.
