Child marriage costs billions in lost earnings

ACCRA: According to a new World Bank report, more than a third of girls in sub-Saharan Africa marry before their 18th birthday, which costs countries billions of dollars in lost earnings.

Estimates for 12 countries suggest some US$63bil (RM261bil) is lost as child brides complete fewer years of formal education.

Every year of secondary education reduces the likelihood of marrying before the age of 18 by 5% or more, it added in the report, “Educating Girls and Ending Child Marriage”.

West Africa has the highest prevalence of marriage before the age of 15 and of the 20 countries with the highest rates of child marriage, 18 are in Africa.

Yvette Kathurima Muhia, from the Girls Not Brides organisation of over 1,000 civil society groups working on the issue, said governments and communities must work together.

Twenty-four countries have launched national strategies to end the practice since the African Union began a campaign to stop child marriage by 2023.

But she said more needed to be done, particularly to keep girls in school by providing free meals, sanitary items and transport.

“Then the families feel that they can send the girls to school, where they have support and incentives,” Muhia added.

Besides addressing policies and legal reforms, social norms must change in communities too, she said.