GLOBAL GIRLHOOD REPORT 2021

• Recently, an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Save the Children released the Global Girlhood Report 2021: Girls Right in Crisis.
• It is observed annually on 11th October. It was declared by the United Nations (UN), which was first observed in 2012.
• A resolution to declare 11th October as the International Day of the Girl Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 19th December 2011.
• The day is dedicated to raising awareness on gender equality while assuring rights and improving opportunities for girls.
• Digital generation. Our generation.

Important points:

• West and Central Africa has the highest rate of child marriage in the world.
• Child marriage kills more than 60 girls a day globally, 26 girls a day in West and Central Africa and six girls a day in South Asia.
• South Asia is followed by East Asia and the Pacific and Latin American and the Caribbean.
• The deaths are majorly caused from pregnancy and childbirth resulting from child marriage.
• With school closures, health services under strain or closed, and more families being pushed into poverty, women and girls face an increased risk of violence during lengthy lockdowns
• A further 10 million girls are now expected to marry by 2030, leaving more girls at risk of dying.
• Earlier, according to a report published by ChildLine India the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have proved to be new drivers of child marriages in rural Madhya Pradesh.
• Also some activists and organisations of Karnataka have raised the issue of increased child marriages in Lockdown with the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Child Marriages India Specific Data

• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under 18 get married in India, which makes it home to the largest number of child brides in the world – accounting for a third of the global total.
• Nearly 16% of adolescent girls aged 15-19 are currently married.
• While the prevalence of girls getting married before age 18 has declined from 47% to 27% between 2005-2006 and 2015-2016.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT