The coronavirus pandemic could lead to the marriage of ten million children by 2030, Unicef warned Monday, March 8, who would add to the 100 million girls considered at risk of being married by the end of the decade.
Read also: Every year, 12 million underage girls are forcibly married around the world
These marriages of girls under 18 are the consequence of several factors linked to the Covid-19 crisis, mainly school closures, the deterioration of the economic situation, disruptions in public services and the deaths of parents, according to the United Nations agency dedicated to children.
"The Covid-19 has worsened an already difficult situation for millions of girls,"
Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement released Monday.
"But we can and we must end child marriage."
One in five girls in the world
The pandemic thus threatens to call into question the progress made over the past decade, which has seen the proportion of young girls married before their 18 years go from one in four to one in five worldwide, or around 25 million. marriages avoided.
"We must take immediate action to limit the consequences
(of the pandemic)
on girls and their families,"
urged Henrietta Fore.
"By reopening schools"
by
"ensuring access to care and social services"
, and
"enforcing laws and adequate policy"
,
"we can reduce the risk of childhood marriage stealing a young girl ”
.
Read also: When little Syrians talk about their forced marriage
According to Unicef, 650 million girls and women around the world were married before they turned 18.
Half of these marriages took place in five countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India and Nigeria.
According to figures published in 2020 by Unicef, the proportion of young girls married before the age of 18 reaches 76% in Niger and 68% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The proportion of boys married before their 18th birthday is only one sixth of that observed among girls.
