Nepal makes significant progress in reducing child marriage

KATHMANDU: Nepal has made significant progress in reducing child marriage over the past decade, but the country remains off track to meet its commitment to eliminate the harmful practice by 2030, according to a new UNICEF advocacy brief, Ending Child Marriage in Nepal: A Decade of Data and a Call to Action.

The release of the advocacy brief coincides with the International Day of the Girl Child, observed annually on 11 October. This year’s global theme, “End child marriage and invest in girls’ rights,” highlights the urgent need to accelerate efforts to end child marriage and ensure girls have the opportunity to learn, thrive and shape their own futures.

Based on the findings of the latest Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (NMICS) 2024-25 as well as an analysis of data from the 2014 and 2019 surveys, the brief tracks a decade of progress in addressing child marriage in Nepal and finds that the proportion of women aged 20-24 who were married before the age of 18 fell from 37 per cent in 2014 to 28 per cent in 2024-25. Child marriage before age 15 was cut in half, falling from 10 per cent to 5 per cent over the same period.

The brief also highlights that Nepal’s progress is real and measurable. More girls are staying in school, the median age at first marriage has increased from 17 years in 2001 to 19.6 years in 2024-25, and marriage before age 15 is becoming less common.