There are 640 million girls married off to older men around the world.

This systematic and legally accepted violence affects 12 million very young people a year, aged between 12 and 17.

"We have undoubtedly made progress in abandoning the practice of child marriage, especially over the past decade. But this progress is not enough," said Claudia Cappa of UNICEF. The phenomenon is in fact decreasing, but not enough: if in 1997, 25% of young women between 20 and 24 years married before the age of 18, and the figure drops to 23% in 2012, and then reaches 19% in 2022, "at this rate, we should wait 300 years to eliminate child marriage", Cappa added.

Covid-19 could be responsible for another 10 million child marriages between 2020 and 2030.

The UNICEF study warns that the valuable achievements of ending child marriage over the past decade are threatened, or even reversed, by the impacts of Covid-19. It is estimated that the pandemic has already reduced by a quarter the number of child marriages avoided since 2020: "We have shown that progress to end child marriage is possible. But continued support is needed for vulnerable girls and families - said Catherine Russell, head of UNICEF - We must focus on girls' stay in school and economic opportunities".

"The world is overrun by crisis after crisis, destroying the hopes and dreams of vulnerable children, especially girls who should be schoolgirls, not brides," Russell added. Crises "that force families to seek a false sense of security" by marrying their daughters. Although child marriage is a clear violation of children's rights, it is often seen by families as a measure of 'protection' for girls, financially, socially and even physically," the report reads. It is also seen as a way to have one less mouth to feed.

In wealthier families, progress is more significant.

Geographically, Southeast Asia is the driving force behind the decline in child marriage. However, the region still accounts for about 45% of the 640 million women married before the age of 18. India alone accounts for a third. UNICEF is particularly concerned about the situation in sub-Saharan Africa, where girls are more likely to be married before the age of 18. As the population grows, the number of very young brides is expected to increase by 10% by 2030.

Girls living in fragile contexts are twice as likely to become child brides than the world average. Forevery tenfold increase in conflict-related deaths, there is a 7% increase in the number of child marriages. At the same time, extreme weather events caused by climate change increase the risk for girls, with each 10% change in rainfall linked to an approximately 1% increase in the percentage of child marriages.