Yemi Obafemi
In commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child, Save the Children has emphasized that the governments, UN Agencies, civil society organisations and donors focused on development and humanitarian settings must develop policy guidance to address child marriage and support girls’ rights in fragile settings, and must invest more in research and trialing new responses.
Save the Children is calling for collaboration across development and humanitarian contexts for girls’ rights in order to uphold girls’ rights and address child marriage in fragile settings.
According to the new report released by Save the Children, a girl marries every 30 seconds in countries ranked fragile and child marriage hotspots
Save the Children’s latest Global Girlhood Report 2024 revealed a devastating link between child marriage and fragile states.
The report read: “Girls living in extremely fragile countries were found to be two times more likely to marry than girls in countries experiencing periods of greater stability.
“ A girl is married every 30 seconds in countries ranked as fragile states and with high child marriage rates, with about 32 million adolescent girls living in these emergency hotspots, according to new analysis released today by Save the Children [1].
“Save the Children’s latest Global Girlhood Report 2024: Fragile Futures set out to analyse if there was a link between fragility and child marriage and found some 32 million girls are living in countries rated ‘extremely fragile’ or ‘fragile’ and with high child marriage rates – so called “fragility-child marriage hotspots”.
“Eight of 10 of the worst fragility-child marriage hotspots are located in Africa with the Central African Republic, Chad and South Sudan the worst affected, followed by Somalia and Eritrea.
“The report, released on International Day of the Girl, also found that the 36 million girls living in 15 countries ranked ‘extremely fragile’ by the OECD were twice as likely to marry under the age of 17 than girls in more stable countries. One in 10 children marriages occurs in these states [3].
“In extremely fragile countries, almost 558,000 girls – or one-in-four – give birth before their 18th birthday. Many of those girls will not have access to skilled birth attendants to support them through the heightened risks associated with adolescent pregnancy.
“The number of countries ranked as fragile has increased in recent years with the OECD listing 60 countries as fragile in its 2022 States of Fragility report. Of these 15 countries were ranked as ‘extremely fragile’ and 45 countries as ‘fragile’, with 170 million adolescent girls living in these countries. This was an increase from a total of 57 fragile countries in 2020 and 58 in 2018.”
The CEO of Save the Children International Inger Ashing said : “Our latest report reveals a devastating link between child marriage and fragile states, with girls living in extremely fragile countries twice as likely to marry than girls in countries experiencing periods of greater stability.
“The picture is bleak for these children; right now, no fragile country is on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on ending hunger, ensure education and health for all, or gender equality.
“Fragility has also increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and is linked to many of the new crises we see today, eroding the systems communities rely on for healthcare, safety, education and income.
“Persistent and unaddressed inequalities, the climate crisis and the erosion of children’s and human rights mean that girls’ lives continue to be shaped by a cycle of crisis and recovery. And this will continue unless urgent action is taken.
“Governments are ultimately responsible for guaranteeing the rights of all people within their borders. For governments in fragile settings this is more difficult as they face the dual challenge of needing to do more to protect girls rights at a time when they are less able to deliver that support.
“Resources are needed to support the governments, civil society organisations and communities – including girls – in fragile settings to ensure they can respond to the needs. The governments of the fragile countries, UN agencies, civil society organisations, and donors must work together to ensure girls’ rights are protected.”
