Int'l Day of Girl Child: Child marriage still a barrier to women empowerment

Kathmandu, Oct 11: This year's International Day of the Girl Child was observed today under the theme of 'End child marriage, invest in girls' rights'. The Day finely reflects the importance of necessary initiatives to protect the rights of girls, empower them, and end child marriage.

Globally, it is estimated that around 650 million women and girls alive today were married early, and one in five girls worldwide is married before the age of 18.

The Constitution (Article 39) of Nepal has guaranteed that no child shall be subject to child marriage. According to Section 173 of the National Penal Code, 2074 BS (2017), marriage before the age of 20 is punishable by law. Despite legal provisions and various efforts, child marriage has not been eradicated from Nepal, various studies show.  

A UNICEF report on 'Ending Child Marriage in Nepal: A Decade of Data and a Call to Action' released on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child, disclosed that though the rate of child marriage in Nepal has declined, adolescent girls from the poorest families still remain at high risk.

The UNICEF analysis based on data from the Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (2014, 2019, and 2024–25) illustrate  that Nepal's decline in child marriage over the past three decades is a remarkable achievement. Among women aged 20-24, the prevalence of child marriage has fallen from approximately 55 per cent in 1991 to 28 per cent in 2024-25. The most recent decade represents one of the fastest periods of progress recorded to date.

The greatest gains have been seen among the youngest girls. Between 2014 and 2024-25, marriage before age 15 declined by approximately 50 per cent, compared with around 25 per cent reduction in marriage before age 18. This suggests that Nepal is making important progress in preventing the earliest and most harmful forms of child marriage.