United States: A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has stated that child marriages have been decreasing, but not at a rate that would eliminate the practice for another 300 years.

The report titled “Is an End to Child Marriage Within Reach?” stated that approximately 640 million girls and women were married before the age of 18 and that about 12 million girls and teens become child brides each year.

The rate of child marriage has been decreasing for the past 25 years, but crises such as climate change threaten to reverse the trend. In 1997, 25 percent of young women aged 20 to 24 were married before the age of 18. By 2022, that figure had fallen to 19 percent, with the decline largely driven by South Asian nations, especially India.

“In the last decade alone, a girl’s likelihood of marrying in childhood has dropped by nearly half, from 46 percent to 26 percent. Of all child marriages averted in the past 25 years, 78 percent were in South Asia. This progress is driven largely by India, although notable declines have also been seen in Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Pakistan,” the report stated.

However, the region remained home to the largest total number of child brides as a result of “age-old practices and the region’s large population.”

According to UNICEF, South Asia was home to nearly 45 percent of all the world’s child brides.

The report also said the sub-Saharan region was also of “considerable concern”, with girls there now experiencing the highest risk of child marriage in the world. It expects the number of child brides there to increase by 10 percent by 2030.

WORLD ROUNDUP: Uzbekistan votes in favor of President Mirziyoyev’s proposed constitutional changes