Latest news with #childmarriage
The Independent
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
The UK's aid cuts are staggering – and much worse is to come
In Kasai, one of the poorest parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, tens of thousands of girls are going to school for the first time thanks to a UK programme – reducing the risk that they will be forced into child marriage or face lives scarred by violence. But now this project is being abandoned as hundreds of millions of pounds – soon to be billions – is stripped from our aid budget, which means 170,000 children will miss out on the lessons that would have transformed their lives, ministers admitted in a document published this week. This dismal picture is echoed in other African countries – education work is also being cut in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Zimbabwe – and the government's Girls Education Department is losing a staggering 51 pr cent of its funding. Quietly, Britain's status as a global leader in education is shrivelling at huge cost to our reputation, and to the British companies that export education services around the world – as well as to the children we promised to help with a return to school after the devastating Covid-19 pandemic. And yet these week's cuts are just a taste of much worse to come if the government sticks to its plan to target education when the bulk of the aid cuts strike next year. After that, how many of the 19 country programmes the UK currently runs will survive – if any? Where will that leave the pledges the UK drove through at the G7 Summit in Cornwall in 2021, in the shadow of Covid, for the world to enable 40 million more girls in poorer countries to go to school by 2026? If we pull back, other rich nations will be emboldened to do the same. The scale of the cuts also leaves the UK's commitment to vital global funds – the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait, for emergencies – hanging in the balance ahead of fresh donor pledging rounds. Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, played a critical role in establishing Education Cannot Wait and has spoken powerfully of how it offers 'hope and opportunity' to millions of children trapped in conflicts and crises in Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and in many parts of Africa. When children in conflict and their families are asked for their priorities, education is often top of their list It must be unthinkable for this Labour government to turn its back on such a crucial initiative – and yet much more savage cuts will have to be made this autumn. That is the reality of a 40 per cent reduction to the international development budget. I urge ministers to remember that education is one of the most effective uses of our aid budget, allowing children who score well in reading and maths to go on to earn around 11 per cent more as adults, according to recent research reported in The Independent. The vast costs of inaction, of failing to invest in education, are also clear: they have been estimated by the United Nations to deprive the global economy of $10 trillion across the next decade. It is striking that, even amid the destruction of aid programmes in the United States, politicians are coming together to spare global education programmes – recognising they bolster peace and security and create future trading opportunities, as well as combatting poverty. The UK government wants to foster stronger partnerships across the globe, and supporting education will help. A decade ago, the UK shared this belief, dedicating 11 per cent of its aid to education, but that share fell sharply to just 4 per cent after previous aid budget cuts. Education is too important for it to be allowed to wither away entirely.
Arab News
14-07-2025
- General
- Arab News
Bangladesh's child marriage rate soars to highest in South Asia
DHAKA: The child marriage rate continues to rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, experts warn, as the latest UN data shows that more than half of Bangladeshi girls are married before reaching adulthood — the highest percentage in the whole of South Asia. Bangladesh has long had one of the world's highest rates of child marriage and, unlike other countries in the region, for the past few years has seen the situation worsening. According to the annual report of the UN Population Fund released last month, 51 percent of Bangladeshi girls are found to have been married before turning 18, the legal age for marriage. The rate was significantly lower at 29 percent in nearby Afghanistan, 23 percent in India, and 18 percent in Pakistan. 'Among South Asian countries, we are in a poor position when it comes to child marriage rates, even though we perform better on some other gender-related indicators set by the UN,' Rasheda K. Chowdhury, social activist and executive director of the Campaign for Popular Education, told Arab News. 'Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the child marriage rate in the country was around 33 percent. At that time, we were not the worst in South Asia in this regard. However, the pandemic disrupted everything.' Data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics shows a steady increase in child marriage rates of several percent a year since 2020, coinciding with pandemic lockdowns, which exacerbated poverty, disrupted education, and increased household stress. 'Our research found that COVID-19 increased poverty, interrupted education for both boys and girls, and worsened malnutrition. In this context, many guardians from underprivileged communities chose to marry off their daughters in hopes of reducing the financial burden on their families,' Chowdhury said. 'Poverty is the primary driver of early marriages, as many guardians are unable to cope with household expenses. As a result, they often choose to marry off their daughters at a young age.' Lack of women's access to education is usually seen as the main reason behind high child marriage rates, but Bangladesh has the highest enrollment of girls in secondary school in the whole region. 'Bangladesh has invested more in infrastructure development rather than human development,' Chowdhury said. 'To prevent early marriages, society must play a crucial role. The government alone cannot act as a watchdog in every household. Local communities need to take initiative and actively work to stop child marriages.' Azizul Haque, project manager at World Vision Bangladesh, also saw the problem as related to social awareness. 'In the villages and remotest parts of the country, girls are mostly considered a burden for the family, so the parents prefer to marry off the girls as soon as possible … In many of the remotest areas, there are schools that provide education only up to class eight, so after the completion of their eighth grade in school, many of the girls have nothing to do at home. This situation also triggers the increase in child marriages,' he said. 'There is a huge lack of social awareness. At the national level, we need to strengthen the mass campaign conveying the demerits of early marriages, so that everyone becomes aware of the negative impacts.'
Telegraph
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The Afghan schoolgirls forced to return to repression by Iran
A 17 year-old contemplates suicide. A 15 year-old is forced intochild marriage. A nine year-old cries outside her school, knowing she'll never set foot inside again. This is the reality for tens of thousands of Afghan girls in Iran who are now being deported to a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where their right to education has been systematically destroyed. Iran's interior ministry said it will offer online education to Afghan schoolgirls who the Islamic Regime are forcing to leave the country with their families by the end of this month. Nader Yarahmadi, the head of the ministry's immigration office, said Iran can only enrol students with ID numbers and residency documents in its school – something that some Afghans refugees do not have. But families facing deportation told The Telegraph the government's promise of online education is a baseless claim to justify their deportation. The measures are part of a broader crackdown by Iran that uses spying accusations as a pretext for mass arrests and deportations following its recent conflict with Israel. Since early June, nearly 450,000 Afghan refugees, many who arrived after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, have been deported and 5,000 children separated from their parents, according to UN agencies. Afghans in Iran have long been blamed for the economic problems, but the crackdown has become much harsher since the recent conflict with Israel. During its 12-day war, daily deportations jumped from 2,000 to over 30,000 as Iranian authorities turned public anger toward the vulnerable minority. Some 50 kilometres north of Tehran, in Karaj, nine-year-old Nafas and her family have already received a deportation order. They've packed their belongings and are set to leave for Afghanistan next week. The family fled to Iran after the fall of Kabul, as her father's job with the Western-backed government put them at risk under the Taliban. Farhad, Nafas's father, said: 'She and her sister used to memorise poems, record themselves reciting them, and send the videos to their teacher. 'But now they're both depressed. They hardly eat and cry themselves to sleep every night.' Nafas was set to start third grade (the equivalent to the UK's Year Four) this September, and her 12-year-old sister Neda was entering fifth grade. They had been looking forward to a school trip with their teacher and classmates later this month. 'They went to their school the other day to say goodbye to their teachers. It was heartbreaking. I couldn't bear to watch and had to walk away,' said Farhad. 'This is not what human dignity should look like. I no longer worry about my own safety in Afghanistan, I worry about what will happen to my children.' He said the girls are now on school holidays, but Nafas still walks to school and stands outside, tears in her eyes. 'She doesn't want to leave her friends, and neither does her sister,' her father said. 'They're so innocent. I feel deeply guilty that I can't give them even the most basic right: education and a chance at happiness. A nine and 12-year-old shouldn't be crying over school. They should be learning, not longing to learn.' Schoolgirls returning to Afghanistan are increasingly facing child marriage, driven by traditional rural beliefs and financial hardship. Afsaneh, 15, was forced to return to Afghanistan two months ago. Now, her family is arranging her marriage. Firouz, her brother, said Afsaneh had been doing well in school and wanted to continue her studies. Now, their father wants to marry her off to a man in his 20s. 'I've tried to stop him,' he said. 'But I have no say in the matter... Now she cries all the time.' Their father insists that in their village, if a girl is not married by her age, 'people start talking badly about her'. The girls in Iran are trapped in limbo and are struggling with the prospect of leaving their education and friends behind. Mahnaz, 17, not her real name, has considered suicide rather than face deportation. 'I've thought about killing myself,' she said. 'Dying. It's better than going to Afghanistan and falling into the Taliban's hands and with no school.' Mahnaz was born and raised in Iran and had legal documents, like her mother's family. But her life fell apart eight years ago when her father's severe drug addiction broke up the family. 'My father became severely addicted and it was very difficult,' she said. 'He beat all of us. He beat my mum. He beat me. He intentionally burned my hand when he was using drugs. The mark is still there.' Mahnaz's father attempted suicide and her mother later filed for divorce after years of abuse. But without the male head of household, their residency documents expired and became invalid. In Iran, if the father of a refugee family loses his documents, the whole family risks losing theirs. Mahnaz's father disappeared and with him, their legal status. 'When they expired, me and my mum were left alone,' Mahnaz said. 'We wanted to go to school. To study. Go to a clinic. Go to a hospital. But they wanted documents. We were stuck.' Eventually, they received new census forms, allowing Mahnaz to enroll in high school and her younger brother to continue their education. But with the census, the Islamic Republic can easily find the refugees whose legal status remains uncertain and deport them. Those fully documented by the UN for decades cannot be easily sent back. 'They gave census holders exit forms,' she said. 'We have about 20 days to see what happens to our situation.' The deadline is the end of July for the schoolgirls to leave the country, according to Iranian media. After that, families like Mahnaz face deportation to a country where the Taliban has banned girls from attending school beyond primary grades and barred women from most jobs. At the Afghanistan border, aid workers witness the daily reality of forced returns. Faraidoon Osmani, who works for the Mercy Corps humanitarian NGO at the Herat border crossing, said between 24,000 to 30,000 people arrive daily from Iran. 'The situation is very bad,' Mr Osmani said. 'The people who come, almost all of them, were forcibly expelled.' Families are being torn apart in the deportation process. 'You will see a lot of children unaccompanied at the border,' Mr Osmani said. 'Half the family stayed in Iran, half the family came to the border. Some children who are under 18 years old were also expelled.' Mr Osmani also believes that Iran's promise of online tuition is unrealistic for most returnees. 'The majority of our people live in villages and remote areas,' he said. 'Many people don't have mobile phones, let alone having the internet.' Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban has severely limited women's rights in Afghanistan. Women now face rules that control nearly every part of their lives; from being forced to cover their faces and banned from driving, to not being allowed to talk to men or choose how they dress. In the small town outside Tehran, Mahnaz works from 9 am until 11 pm, constantly checking on their legal status while trying to support her family. She dreams of university, of helping others, of a future that seems increasingly impossible. 'I really want to continue my studies and go to university,' she said. 'I want to reach somewhere so that I can help others.'
The Sun
12-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Groom, 45, marries girl, 6, in horror wedding that even sickened Taliban… as harrowing pics show world of child brides
A 45-year-old groom allegedly married a six-year-old girl in Afghanistan in a wedding that left even the Taliban "horrified". The man, who is already said to have two wives, reportedly paid money in exchange for taking the girl as a bride in a sick case. 7 7 7 7 The child's father and the groom were later arrested, but neither of them has been charged. While the shocking case has sparked outrage, it is understood that the marriage still lasts. The Taliban, who are known for their brutal laws against women, reportedly opposed the marriage and asked to groom to wait until the bride turned nine. Child marriage in Afghanistan has spread more severely under the Taliban's ban on female education and employment. A local activist named Mahbob told Afghan Times: "There are many families in our village who have given away their daughters for money. "No one helps them. People are desperate." Afghanistan does not have a codified minimum marriage age, with the Taliban nullifying the previous age limit of 16 set after the 2001 Western invasion. By the beginning of the 21st century, most countries around the world enacted laws establishing the general minimum age for marriage at 18 years. However, in many of these countries, some exceptions allowed marriage before this age with the consent of the parents and/or by court decision. In some countries, a religious marriage is still recognised by the state authorities, while in others, a registered civil marriage is mandatory. Earlier this year, Iraq legalised child marriage, with girls as young as nine being able to marry after amendments to decades-old laws. The amendments to Iraq's personal status law will allow girls in their teens - or as young as nine- to be married, ignoring the country's previous minimum age of 18. The age goes as low as nine because of Ja'fari school of Islamic law followed by many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq. The Ja'fari school of thought focuses on various aspects of governance, legislation, and judiciary in the country. It heavily relies on Ijtihad, which is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law. But Intisar al-Mayali, a human rights activist and a member of the Iraqi Women's League, said: "This violates their right to life as children, and will disrupt the protection mechanisms for divorce, custody and inheritance for women." She also declared that the change "will leave disastrous effects on the rights of women and girls through the marriage of girls at an early age". Yanar Mohammed, president of the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) said the proposals served to "terrorise Iraqi women and civil society with a legislation that strips away all the rights that Iraqi women gained in modern times." 7 7 7 FORCED MARRIAGE IN THE UK A national Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) was created in 2005, followed by the Forced Marriage Protection Order (FMPO) in 2008 – a form of injunction to prevent contact from perpetrators, stop someone being taken out of the country and prohibit marriage arrangements – and 3,343 of these were issued by the courts to women at risk up to September last year. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 made it a criminal offence in England, Wales and Scotland to force someone to marry, including taking them overseas to do so. It carries a prison sentence of up to seven years. In February, the legal age for marriage was raised to 18 in England and Wales after a 10-year campaign by the Girls Not Brides coalition, with non-legally-binding traditional ceremonies also banned. Yet, there are still on average 12 to 15 honour-based murders a year in the UK – and experts believe that is the tip of the iceberg as some families take girls overseas where there is less scrutiny. A report in May by the Universities of Bristol and Lincoln also warned use of FMPOs can prevent forced marriage but increase the risk of honour-based violence. Cases Are almost always the culmination of a lifetime of mistreatment, known as honour-based abuse (HBA). The Home Office says there were 2,887 offences of this type in the year ending March 31, 2022 in England and Wales, and a further 1,871 HBA-related incidents. Mandatory collection of this data was only introduced in 2019 and there has been an 81% rise in cases over recent years, although this is thought to be down to greater awareness.
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
The disturbing world of child brides: Shocking images show girls young enough to be in pre-school who are married off to older men
Ghada* was 15 when she fell pregnant with her third child. For three years, she had been married to an older man - a man her father had paired her with out of perceived necessity. 'My family is poor,' she explained. Her father 'accepted the first proposal for the marriage that came to him, not only for me but for my sisters, not caring that we were only children'. Child marriage existed in Yemen before the civil war. But years of bitter fighting have exacerbated the issue. Famine looms over the population as the 'fortunate' survive on bread and water. For families like Ghada's, children are an impossible expense. And so, Ghada was married at 12. Within a year, she gave birth to a baby girl. Her husband, who wanted a son, abused her and forbade her from leaving the house. She was only allowed to see her family when she delivered her second child, a boy. Ghada pleaded with her father to let her come home. But the family could not afford to feed more people. She went back to her husband and fell pregnant for a third time. Seeing no way out, Ghada tried to poison herself with pesticide stolen from her husband. She was rescued by her sister-in-law, but still could not return home. It seemed her life had been decided for her. Ghada's story is not unique. Child marriage does not belong only to Yemen, but festers in countries ravaged by war and instability. Around the world, hundreds of millions of girls have their own stories of abuse and neglect, bound to men often much older than themselves as a result of trafficking, cultural norms or, indeed, because there are no clear alternatives for a better life. In the time it takes to read this sentence, another child, somewhere in the world, will have been married. Amlee, a five-year old bride, with her husband, Ashok, 15, during their marriage ritual in Indian desert village Srirampur of northwestern state of Rajasthan on May 14, 1994 Ghada's story may not be unique. But it is relatively rare in finding a happy ending. It was the kindness of a neighbour that saved her. She was taken, with her mother, to a UNFPA-supported safe space and referred for psychiatric care, before a lawyer helped secure custody of her children. In one sense, Ghada was free. But a denied childhood left her at 16 unable to read or write, with no money and no skills. At one of 51 UNFPA safe spaces, Ghada steadily learned to read and write, and was trained how to sew, offering her the chance of economic independence. She completed her training and was awarded a sewing machine and materials, so that she could start over. 'Education helped me to become economically independent so I can have my freedom of choices,' she said. 'I need to get my children an education so they can choose for themselves in their lives.' At the time of the report, in 2021, she had moved back in with her father and was able to provide for her family. Edmund Fitton Brown, the UK's Ambassador to Yemen between 2015 and 2017, told MailOnline that before the war, it was common for young girls, 'often below the age of 10', to be married to men many decades older than them. He said he recalled hearing of girls as young as eight being married. 'Part of the incentive was economic, easing financial burdens on the family. Also for protection and to create a family alliance.' 'All of these drivers have been growing stronger.' Yemen does not have a minimum legal age for marriage. And Houthi ideology, 'violent and aggressive', has only set back rights for women since their 2014 takeover, while limiting the ability of families to object to imposed marriages. Rarely do families fight back and win. In 2020, an outlier made international headlines, as the mother of a 12-year-old girl, Hind, managed to get a court order to cancel a marriage contract binding her daughter to a 30-year-old prison inmate. Her mother was threatened and Hind's siblings were still forced to marriage and made to bear children. Aid groups, like the UNFPA, are in many cases the only lifeline. The impact of child marriage on the children varies case by case, country by country. But girls who marry or cohabit before the age of 18 are, on average, more likely to experience domestic violence, to drop out of school and miss out on developing skills and relationships beyond the home. UNICEF says that child brides are more likely to become infected with HIV/AIDS, more likely to have children while still a child, and more likely to die due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. There are today more than 650 million women suffering the direct consequences of child marriage. Global figures have declined in recent years, but global instability poses new threats to the lives of children around the world. In times of conflict, families may arrange marriages for girls, believing it will protect their daughters from violence by strangers or armed groups, and to ease financial burdens on the family - as in Ghada's case. In Yemen more than two-thirds of girls are now married under the age of 18. Before the conflict escalated, this was around one in two. It is not only war that creates the conditions for child marriage, then. Poverty and wider insecurity lead parents to part with their children, either in the hopes of giving them a better life or reducing costs. Nor is it the case that legislation necessarily offers a watertight solution. In China, the minimum age for marriage is 22 for men and 20 for women. But UNICEF estimates that there are more than 35 million girls who married before the age of 18. The effects of China's infamous One Child Policy (1979 to 2015) still drives this in part. Selective abortions favouring sons have resulted in widespread gender imbalance. Coupled with reduced population growth, this may have spurred a trend towards allowing children to marry. Poverty squeezes the problem. In vulnerable households, girls can be sold as child brides. Families may also 'buy' foreign brides from neighbouring countries. Aidan McQuade, former director of Anti-Slavery International, wrote in 2018 that he had been told that the most popular age of girls for the China 'market' was between 13 and 16 years old. 'These girls typically fetch between $2,000 and $3,000 for 'three years and a baby'.' After delivering a child and staying with a Chinese man for three years, he relayed, she may then be sold on to other men in China for 'similar usage'. Absolute figures distort the scale. India, with an estimated 216.65 million child brides, has a population of 1.4 billion people. China has slightly less. By proportion, child marriage is most prevalent in central Africa, stretching from the coast of Mauritania, in the West, through Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea and ending up at Somalia, in the East. All are experiencing - or have experienced in living memory - internal instability, conflict or insurrection. According to UNICEF's global database (2020), Niger has the world's highest prevalence: 76 per cent of women were married or in a union before 18. The Central African Republic and Chad both report 61 per cent, Mali, 54. Prevalence across Asia is much lower, with notable exceptions. In Bangladesh, 51 per cent of girls are married before the age of 18. Nepal reports 35 per cent and Laos reports 33 per cent. Afghanistan reports 29 per cent, just ahead of Iraq on 28. Afghanistan and Iraq emerged from the War on Terror with very different political systems, but neither have rid themselves of child marriage. In Afghanistan, it was reported this week that a six-year-old girl had been forced to marry a 45-year-old man. The marriage was allegedly set to take place on Friday in Helmand province before the Taliban stepped in and arrested the father and the bridegroom. Local media reported that the Taliban had said the latter needed to wait until she was nine. UN Women reported last year that there has been a 25 per cent rise in child marriages in Afghanistan after the Taliban banned girls' education in 2021. They also said there has been a 45 per cent increase in child bearing across the country. Earlier this year, Iraq also amended its personal status law to effectively legalise marriage for girls as young as nine. The amendments gave Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance, allowing clerics to rule according to their interpretation of Islamic law. Some of these interpretations allow the marriage of girls under the Ja'afari school of Islamic law followed by many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq. Proponents of the changes, which were advocated by primarily conservative Shiite lawmakers, defend them as a means to align the law with Islamic principles and reduce Western influence on Iraqi culture. The West is not entirely exempt. Romania, which is a member of the European Union and the 35th largest economy globally by GDP (PPP), reports one per cent of girls are married by the age of 15. Seven per cent marry before the age of 18. The legal age for marriage is 18 years, though people can marry at 16 with parental consent. Poverty, limited education and narrow employment prospects are cited among the reasons for child marriage, especially among Romani girls. India, 'the world's largest democracy', has a similar problem. The legal age for men to marry is 21, and for women, 18. The legal age for marriage is 21 for men and 18 for women, but poverty, tradition and weak enforcement keep child marriage common. UNICEF estimates that at least 1.5 million girls under 18 get married in India every years. Nearly 16 per cent of adolescent girls between 15 and 19 were married at the time data was gathered. Rates have declined in recent years, which the UN agency attributes to the increased literacy of mothers, better access to education for girls, stronger legislation and migration to urban centres. Both UNICEF and UNFPA have been working together on a Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage, to help address persisting norms and bring together strategies on improving health, education and nutrition to change the lives and opportunities in front of young people. The groups leading the charge acknowledge that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to ending the problem. Issues like war, poverty and famine cannot simply be undone by donations, but money does help charities and agencies on the ground to reach and help girls like Ghada. 'Current funding is nowhere near enough to match the scale of child marriage worldwide,' Girls Not Bridges acknowledges. Beyond making peace, creating jobs and providing food, action from international governments is needed to create a firm basis of law - and the means to enforce it. Still, the immaterial roots in culture call for a much greater commitment to education before the suffering imposed on children can be properly identified, understood and allayed. * Name changed to protect her identity.
