Bangladesh vows to do more to tackle child marriages
Bangladesh is considering bringing in special measures to prevent child marriage 鈥 a major obstacle to girls getting an education.
The country has made progress in reducing the number of girls married before the age of 18. But 66% of Bangladeshi girls are still married before the age of 18 and nearly 33% of them are pregnant by age 19.
At the World Girl Summit 2014 in London in July,聽Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she wants to stop girls being married off before age 15 and reduce marriage rates for those aged 15 to 18 by a third by 2021.
Now Bangladesh鈥檚聽Women and Children Affairs State Minister, Meher Afroze Chumki, has said the government is considering special projects to address child marriage.
She : 鈥淲e鈥檝e already started the work in this regard鈥 and added that 鈥渋t is not enough to make laws鈥.
She said the situation wouid improve 鈥渙nly if poverty and superstition can be eliminated from the society鈥.
Bangladesh Women鈥檚 Council President Ayesha Khanam told Khabar South Asia: 鈥淭he government figures may have shown a reduction in child marriage but it鈥檚 still a very serious problem.
鈥淭he biggest obstacle to ending child marriage in Bangladesh is poverty and security.鈥
In Bangladesh, and rural isolation prevents many children from getting an education.
Child marriage targets are part of the #EducationCountdown. .