UNICEF is deeply concerned about the increase in underage marriages in Afghanistan
Officials with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have expressed concern about the rise of underage marriages in Afghanistan, saying the future of a generation in Afghanistan is in jeopardy.
“I am deeply concerned about reports of an increase in child marriages in Afghanistan,” UNICEF President Henrietta Four tweeted.
He added that the future of a generation in Afghanistan is in complete danger.
On the other hand, a report published by the fund also provides reliable reports from Afghan families who, in exchange for dowry, offer their 20-day-old daughters to marry in the future.
According to UNICEF, in Herat and Badghis alone, in 2018 and 2019, ten cases of child trafficking and 183 cases of underage marriage were registered, ranging from 16 to 17 years old.
UNICEF added that probably 28 percent of women aged 15 to 49 in Afghanistan were married before the age of 18.
Emphasizing that access to education is the only fundamental mechanism to combat the negative phenomenon of underage marriage and child labor, the United Nations Children’s Fund said that because most adolescent girls are not yet allowed to go to school, this concerns about underage marriage. Has increased.
