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The pandemic of coronavirus it could lead to 10 million girls getting married by 2030, which would add to the 100 million who are at risk of doing so by the end of the decade, warned Unicef.
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These marriages of girls and adolescents under 18 are the result of factors linked to the Covid-19 crisis, mainly the closing of schools, the deterioration of the economic situation, the interruption of public services and the death of their parents, said the World Fund of the United Nations for Children.
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“Covid-19 has worsened an already difficult situation for millions of girls,” Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement. “But we can and must end child marriage.”
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Pandemic could lead 10 million girls to marry, warns Unicef - Photo: Getty Images
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However, the pandemic threatens the advances made on the issue during the last decade, in which the proportion of young people married before the age of 18 went from one in four to one in five worldwide, that is, about 25 million of marriages could be avoided.
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“We must take immediate action to limit the consequences (of the pandemic) for girls and their families,” said Fore.
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“Reopening schools”, “ensuring access to public attention and social services” and “enforcing laws and with appropriate policies can reduce the risk that marriage will steal a girl’s childhood,” he said.
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According to Unicef, 650 million girls and women from around the world were married before turning 18.
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Half of these marriages took place in five countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India and Nigeria.
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According to figures published in 2020 by Unicef, the proportion of girls and adolescents married before the age of 18 reached 76% in Niger and 68% in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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The proportion of boys married before the age of 18 is only one sixth of that observed among girls.
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