The Covid-19 pandemic may put 10 million additional girls at risk of child marriage before the end of the decade, a new UNICEF report has revealed.
The report, released on International Women's Day, states that school closures, service disruptions, economic stress and parental deaths caused due to the pandemic may put girls who are vulnerable at an enhanced risk of child marriage.
In the past 10 years, the proportion of women globally, who were married as children decreased by 15%, a gain which UNICEF says, is now under threat.
Across the world, approximately 650 million women and girls alive today were married in childhood and about a half of those occurred in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nigeria and Ethiopia.
To tackle the issue, the UN body suggests ensuring access to health services, reopening schools, offering social protection measures for families among other things.