Women's rights activists on Wednesday urged Nigeria to accelerate efforts to end child marriage after it joined an African Union (AU) campaign to eliminate the practice.
Nigeria launched this week a nationwide drive to end child marriage by pushing for policies that protect girls' rights and help the justice system to punish perpetrators, becoming the 16th country to join the AU's campaign.
The government made child marriage illegal in 2003, but only two-thirds of the country's 36 states have implemented the law.
At least four in 10 girls in Nigeria are married off before they turn 18, while almost a fifth are wed before they reach 15, according to the United Nations children's agency (UNICEF).
Early marriage deprives girls of an education, increases the likelihood of sexual violence and HIV, and puts them at risk of serious injury or death during childbirth, experts say.
"These (childbirth) complications are a leading cause of death among adolescents girls in countries like Nigeria ... this is unnecessary and unacceptable," said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF's representative in Nigeria.
Rates of child marriage vary widely across Nigeria, with figures as high as 76 percent in the northwest, and as low as 10 percent in the southeast, said campaign group Girls not Brides.
Women's rights group Donor Direct Action said the campaign to end child marriage was another positive step after a law banning female genital mutilation (FGM) was passed last year.
The prevalence of child marriage in Nigeria has dropped by nine percent since 2003, according to data from UNICEF.
"However, its decline needs to be dramatically accelerated, particularly in the north of Nigeria," Anber Raz of Donor Direct Action told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by email from London."A lot of social and cultural change needs to happen, which may fall on the hands of local groups, who are under-resourced."
Nigerian organisation Women's Rights Advancement And Protection Alternative said the state also needed to address discrimination in access to education to prevent child marriage.
More than five million girls are out of school in Nigeria due to gender discrimination, said campaign group Girl Rising.
Latest Stories
-
Lekzy Decomic, Clemento Suarez, OB Amponsah, others honoured at Ghana Comedy Awards
2 mins -
Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction overturned
15 mins -
Experts to shape more equitable digital future at DRIF 24
24 mins -
Bright Simons: Ghana’s billion-dollar ‘Timber Merchant’ deal to protect taxes
41 mins -
Ashanti Regional Minister defends arrest of ECG boss, rejects calls for apology
45 mins -
Cash Waterfall Mechanism report shows significant non-compliance with formula for revenue allocation – Report
59 mins -
Prison officer injured in clash with soldiers in Bawku
1 hour -
SSNIT reserves projected to hit zero in 12 years – ILO
1 hour -
Prestigious Nigerian school closed over bullying reports
1 hour -
Funny Face failed to perform at my show after taking money – Parrot Mouth
1 hour -
CAFCC: Sports Minister to offer Dreams FC a ‘surprise’ package before Zamalek clash
1 hour -
CAF awards 3-0 win to RS Berkane, after Algerian customs confiscated their kits
2 hours -
AgriTech challenge pro holds first pitch
2 hours -
UNIDO commits to improving local rice standards
2 hours -
Suleja prison: 108 inmates on the run in Nigeria
2 hours