An estimated 44 percent of girls in Nigeria are married before their 18th birthday, one of the highest rates of child marriage globally, Save the Children International (SCI) said in its 2021 Global Girlhood Report.

Also, the new Save the Children analysis shows that more than 22,000 girls die each year from pregnancy and childbirth resulting from early marriage.

In a statement marking the 2021 International Day of the Girl Child, the nonprofit reiterated its determination to protect girls against harmful cultural practices and accelerate the agenda to end child marriage in Africa.

Observed every 11 October, the International Day of the Girl Child is a global observance declared by the United Nations to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.

If effectively supported during the adolescent years, girls, according to the United Nations declaration, have the potential to change the world – both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders.

The population of out-of-school children in Nigeria is over 10 million, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Data from the UN agency shows that over 60 percent of these children are in Nigeria’s northern region, and about 60 percent of them are girls.

SCI said this year’s International Day of the Girl Child presented a great opportunity for the amplification of the voice of the girl child and advocacy for their rights.

‘Today is the International Day of the Girl Child (IDG). It will be an opportunity to raise the voices of girls and mobilise for their rights around the world’, the organisation said in the statement.

‘Our focus for this #IDG2021 is using education as a tool to protect girls against harmful cultural practices and accelerate the agenda to end child marriage in Africa’.

Source: Save the Children Nigeria

Photo source: UN Women