Africa: Child Marriage: 20 Highest Prevalence Countries in the World (%)

Child Marriage is a prevalence issue around the world and mainly in Africa. Many times, young girls are deprived of the education they deserve and instead, given out in marriages. The abduction of more than 200 girls from Chibok, in Borno State, Nigeria by members of the terrorists group Boko Haram is one of those cases. Unfortunately, these girls have been in captivity for more than 100 days now and have been denied of their rights to education and the freedom they deserve. The fear Nigerians have is the fear of these girls being harmed or possibly being given out in marriages or forced to marry the terrorists. Which unfortunately, may be the situation, no one can authoritatively confirm.

As part of the efforts of some of these countries to advocate against Child marriage, recently,

some groups have called on the government of Malawi to increase its efforts in the campaign against child marriage to end widespread child and forced marriage, or risk worsening poverty, illiteracy, and preventable. As culled from All Africa News.

"Child marriage is a truly global problem that cuts across countries, cultures, religions and ethnicities. Child brides can be found in every region in the world, from the Middle East to Latin America, South Asia to Europe.

Child marriage: 20 highest-prevalence countries in the world (%)

Niger                              75%

Central African Republic  68%

Chad                              68%

Bangladesh                    65%

Guinea                           63%

Mali                               55%

South Sudan                  52%

Burkina Faso                 52%

Malawi                          50%

Mozambique                 48%

Madagascar                  48%

India                            47%

Eritrea                         47%

Somalia                       45%

Sierra Leone                44%

Zambia                       42%

Nicaragua                   41%

Nepal                         41%

Dominican Republic    41%

Ethiopia                     41%

Niger
Niger has the highest rate of child marriage in the world. Every 3 in 4 girls marry before their 18th birthday. In some areas, the rates are even higher: in the region of Diffa, 89% of girls marry as children.

The link between education and the prevalence of child marriage is particularly evident in Niger: 81% of women aged 20-24 with no education and 63% with only primary education were married or in union at age 18, compared to only 17% of women with secondary education or higher.

If present trends continue, more than 1 million girls born between 2005 and 2010 will be married or in union before they turn 18.

Chad has the third highest rate of child marriage in the world – 68% of girls are married as children – and, unlike many other countries, the practice is prevalent in both wealthy and less wealthy households (Sources: UNFPA, 2012.) via All Africa