It'll take 300 years to wipe out child marriage at the current pace of progress
UNESCO's new report on child marriages shows signs of progress. Yet each year, 12 million girls marry before they turn 18. And the pandemic, climate change and conflict has only made things worse.
The world has made headway against the practice of child marriage, but progress has been frustratingly slow, according to a new report by UNICEF.
The percentage of women age 20-24 who were married in their childhood fell from 23% to 19% in the past decade. And yet, every year, 12 million girls across the world are married before the age of 18.
"The report confirms that we have made progress in eliminating child marriage," says , a senior adviser at UNICEF and an author of the new report. "But the report also indicates that the progress is not universal and is not fast enough."
