Int’l Day of Girl Child: Child marriage still a barrier to women empowerment

Kathmandu: This year’s International Day of the Girl Child was observed today under the theme of ‘End child marriage, invest in girls’ rights’.

The Day finely reflects the importance of necessary initiatives to protect the rights of girls, empower them, and end child marriage.

Globally, it is estimated that around 650 million women and girls alive today were married early, and one in five girls worldwide is married before the age of 18. The Constitution (Article 39) of Nepal has guaranteed that no child shall be subject to child marriage.

According to Section 173 of the National Penal Code, 2074 BS (2017), marriage before the age of 20 is punishable by law. Despite legal provisions and various efforts, child marriage has not been eradicated from Nepal, various studies show.

A UNICEF report on ‘Ending Child Marriage in Nepal: A Decade of Data and a Call to Action’ released on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child, disclosed that though the rate of child marriage in Nepal has declined, adolescent girls from the poorest families remain at high risk.

The UNICEF analysis based on data from the Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (2014, 2019, and 2024–25) illustrate that Nepal’s decline in child marriage over the past three decades is a remarkable achievement.

Among women aged 20-24, the prevalence of child marriage has fallen from approximately 55 per cent in 1991 to 28 per cent in 2024-25. The most recent decade represents one of the fastest periods of progress recorded to date.

The greatest gains have been seen among the youngest girls. Between 2014 and 2024-25, marriage before age 15 declined by approximately 50 per cent, compared with around 25 percent reduction in marriage before age 18. This suggests that Nepal is making important progress in preventing the earliest and most harmful forms of child marriage.

The document has pointed out that poverty remains the strongest factor associated with child marriage in Nepal. The relationship is clear and consistent: as household wealth increases, the likelihood of child marriage falls.

Girls from the richest households have 84 per cent lower adjusted odds of marrying before age 18 than girls from the poorest households. “But poverty is not the whole story,” the report argues. The report highlights the protective role of education against child marriage.

Schooling must reduce child marriage

The national decline in child marriage appears to be driven largely by improvements in girls’ educational attainment.

Compared with 2019, a larger share of women aged 20-24 had completed secondary education (54 per cent, up from 49 percent), and girls who complete secondary school face a substantially lower risk of child marriage.

Among women aged 20-24, the child marriage rate among those with no schooling declined sharply, from 66.4 per cent in 2019 to 48.1 percent in 2024-25. Keeping girls in school is one of the most effective ways to reduce child marriage.

However, the girls at greatest risk are often those from the poorest households, who are also more likely to leave school early.

Education alone, therefore, cannot eliminate child marriage

Although completing secondary education reduces the risk of child marriage, adolescent girls facing poverty and other challenges are more likely to be forced to drop out of school.

Child marriage and early pregnancy adversely affect girls’ education, health, personal freedom, and economic self-reliance. It also limits their employment prospects, leadership potential and future opportunities.

The report states that this progress is not happening fast enough to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target which calls for the elimination of all harmful practices, including child marriage, by 2030.

Uneven progress

The national trend also unmasks a more troubling reality: progress has been uneven.

Estimates of child marriage among girls from the poorest households have changed little, while larger reductions have occurred among wealthier groups.

Girls from the poorest households, marginalized caste and ethnic communities, and some geographic areas therefore continue to face disproportionately high risks of child marriage.

Similarly, it has been stressed to prioritize post-disaster recovery and protection efforts, given that climate-induced disasters such as floods can disrupt family livelihoods and girls’ education, thereby increasing the risk of child marriage and violence.

There is also a strong call to involve girls in discussions and decision-making processes regarding social, political and climate change issues as well as to encourage networks and local programmes.

In view of former executive director of the National Child Rights Council, Tarak Dhital, lowering the legal age of marriage could negatively affect individual’s education, mental well-being, economic and social life and reproductive health.

According to Tilottam Paudel, chair of the National Child Peace Campaign, the legal age of marriage should remain at 20. He opposes the proposal to reduce it to 18.

RSS