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	Girls living in conflict face 20% higher risk of child marriage by Save the Children, agencies   Oct. 2022   Girls affected by conflict are 20% more likely to be married than those living in peaceful areas, according to new analysis from Save the Children released on the 10th anniversary of International Day of the Girl.   Girls living in East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South Asia face the highest risk of child marriage linked to conflict. West and Central Africa – a region affected by conflict and climate emergencies, which lead to poverty and food shortages – has the highest rates of child marriage in the world.   The research also reveals that nearly 90 million girls – or 1 in 5 globally – are living in a conflict zone, with devastating impacts on their health, wellbeing and future opportunities.   Despite laws against child marriage in Nigeria, the country is home to one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. Miriam, 16, and her family were forced to flee their village in Borno state to escape armed groups. They now live in a camp for internally displaced people, with devastating consequences for her. Miriam said:   “I was married against my will. It wasn’t my choice. (…) It's been four months since I dropped out of school. During this time, life has not been easy for me. I studied a bit, but… I’ve since forgotten everything that I have ever learnt.”   While efforts to tackle child marriage often focus on preventing it, little attention is given to the needs and experiences of married girls. Save the Children’s annual Global Girlhood Report: Girls on the frontline features the voices of married, widowed and divorced girls, including insights from girls displaced by conflict in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and South Sudan:   More than 600 interviews were conducted with 139 girls in both countries between 2020 and 2021 to understand their experiences—including their reasons for getting married, their experiences with pregnancy and after marriage.   Girls described varying degrees of control over the decision to marry – some were kidnapped and forced to marry, others gave in to family pressure or married following an unplanned pregnancy.   Girls in both countries described marrying to help provide for their families during periods of extreme economic hardship. Some girls in the KRI said that feelings of isolation and a bleak future influenced their decision to marry.   All girls described exposure to violence and patriarchal rules – including values that give men and boys power over women and girls, which leads to gender inequality – as limiting the choices available to them.   The report also looked at progress made in ending child marriage since International Day of the Girl was first declared in 2012.   While an estimated 25 million child marriages globally were prevented between 2008 and 2018, the world was a long way off track to meet the global Sustainable Development Goal deadline to end child marriage by 2030. The COVID crisis and its ongoing impacts on gender inequality is projected to push 10 million more girls into marriage by 2030, the first jump in global rates in more than two decades.   The pandemic, combined with the worsening climate emergency, new and ongoing conflicts and the worst global food crisis in decades, now further threaten progress to end child marriage.   Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said:   “Conflict has a devastating impact on families, forcing them to flee their homes, schools and jobs to move to temporary camps, which are often cramped, with few services, few options to earn money and next to no protection from violence. While children bear the brunt of any war, we know girls are targeted with brutal acts violence because of their gender – in every conflict.   “Humanitarian crises – be they climate disasters, pandemics or the ongoing global food crisis – lead to many of the same risks that drive child marriage, like increased poverty and a stripping away of protective systems that should be in place to keep girls safe from violence.   “With so many girls facing overlapping crises, this anniversary should be a wakeup call to governments to prioritise girls and make sure they’re protected from child marriage and all the devastating impacts it has on their lives. That has to start by giving girls a say in decisions that affect them.”   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/report-girls-living-conflict-face-20-higher-risk-child-marriage http://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/ http://www.unfpa.org/child-marriage http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/learning-resources/ Visit the related web page
	Achieving gender equality is still centuries away by Sima Bahous UN Women, agencies   Sep. 2022   Achieving gender equality is still centuries away, warns the United Nations in a new report.   At the current rate of progress, it may take close to 300 years to achieve full gender equality, the “Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): The Gender Snapshot 2022” shows.   Global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, violent conflict, climate change, and the backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are further exacerbating gender disparities.   The new report, launched today by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), highlights that, at the current pace of progress, SDG 5—achieving gender equality—will not be met by 2030.   Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director, said: “This is a tipping point for women’s rights and gender equality as we approach the half-way mark to 2030. It is critical that we rally now to invest in women and girls to reclaim and accelerate progress. The data show undeniable regressions in their lives made worse by the global crises—in incomes, safety, education, and health. The longer we take to reverse this trend, the more it will cost us all.”   “Cascading global crises are putting the achievement of the SDGs in jeopardy, with the world’s most vulnerable population groups disproportionately impacted, in particular women and girls. Gender equality is a foundation for achieving all SDGs and it should be at the heart of building back better,” said Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs of UN DESA.   Without swift action, legal systems that do not ban violence against women, do not protect women’s rights in marriage and family—for instance, denying women their right to pass on their nationality to their children, or to inherit—do not provide them with equal pay and benefits at work, and do not guarantee their equal rights to own and control land, may continue to exist for generations to come.   At the current rate of progress, the report estimates that it will take up to 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership in the workplace, and at least 40 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments.   To eradicate child marriage by 2030, progress must be 17 times faster than progress of the last decade, with girls from the poorest rural households and in conflict-affected areas expected to suffer the most.   The report also points to a worrisome reversal on the reduction of poverty, and rising prices are likely to exacerbate this trend. By the end of 2022, around 383 million women and girls will live in extreme poverty (on less than USD 1.90 a day) compared to 368 million men and boys. Many more will have insufficient income to meet basic needs such as food, clothing, and adequate shelter in most parts of the world. If current trends continue, in sub-Saharan Africa, more women and girls will live in extreme poverty by 2030 than today.   The invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war there is further worsening food insecurity and hunger, especially among women and children, limiting supplies of wheat, fertilizer and fuel, and propelling inflation. In 2021, about 38 per cent of female-headed households in war-affected areas experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, compared to 20 per cent of male-headed households.   Further facts and figures highlighted in the report include:   In 2020, school and preschool closures required 672 billion hours of additional unpaid childcare globally. Assuming the gender divide in care work remained the same as before the pandemic, women would have shouldered 512 billion of those hours.   Globally, women lost an estimated USD 800 billion in income in 2020 due to the pandemic, and despite a rebound, their participation in labour markets is projected to be lower in 2022 than it was pre-pandemic (50.8 per cent, compared to 51.8 per cent in 2019).   There are now more women and girls who are forcibly displaced than ever before: some 44 million women and girls by the end of 2021.   Today, over 1.2 billion women and girls of reproductive age (15–49) live in countries and areas with some restriction on access to safe abortion.   The report points out that achieving universal girls’ education, while not enough by itself, would improve such an outlook significantly. Each additional year of schooling can boost a girl’s earnings as an adult by up to 20 per cent with further impacts on poverty reduction, better maternal health, lower child mortality, greater HIV prevention, and reduced violence against women.   The report showcases that cooperation, partnerships, and investments in the gender equality agenda, including through increased global and national funding, are essential to correct the course and place gender equality back on track.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2022/09/press-release-achieving-full-gender-equality-is-still-centuries-away-warns-the-united-nations-in-a-new-report http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2022/09/policy-paper-global-gendered-impacts-of-the-ukraine-crisis Visit the related web page
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