Overall, Unicef estimates that 640 million girls and women living today were married off before they turned 18. Post the Covid-19 pandemic, when poor families were driven to destitution, young girls were married off by many families to reduce their burdens. Indeed, poverty has been identified as a major factor responsible for such marriages, while the other is the impact of climate change.
It concludes that the situation in South Asia is particularly bad, behind only Africa, with 38 per cent of children ~ totalling 147 million ~ unable to access remote learning.
The lack of adequate nutrition increases youngsters' vulnerability to health problems, namely poor brain development, weak learning, low immunity, increased susceptibility to infections and in many cases, premature death.
